Chanting. Music. Shadows. Mezcal.
This was the staging of the musical adaptation of Juan Rulfo’s seminal novel, Pedro Páramo. Set in Mexico and performed predominantly through Spanish (with English subtitles), the tiny stage of the drama was bubbling over with actors, instruments, and bottles.
Rulfo’s novel is a complex account of a man returning to his parent’s homeland, at the dying wish of his mother. He slowly discovers it to be a ghost town, overrun by spectre with stories of hope and despair from the town’s past. It’s a narrative which jumps around in time and is layered and subtly enough, even if you had hours to devote to the close study of the novel it would surely require great concentration to properly take in.
Maybe it’s just me, but with the small staging, hour and a half runtime, as well as the fact that the actors all play several roles each with little costume changes, I am still slightly confused by several plot elements. Who was who? How were they related again? Only after reading up on the novel now, do I fully grasp every bit of what happens.
I don’t want to overstate this confusion however, as even being unsure of the details I thoroughly enjoy the production and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to a friend. The standout is the music, performed on folk instruments which gorgeously punctuate the story’s dramatic moments. More amazing still is the vocal performances by the cast, who are note perfect and very compelling. Their ghostly choruses in particular are something I still remember vividly.
Works in translation aren’t for everyone, but they should be. If anything, being able to see the words behind the actors performing makes their poetry more arresting. The time flies by in the soft magic of the performance, and the top up of the complimentary mezcal mid-show probably helps too. Definitely go to see the show, but maybe give the book a google first to be able to appreciate it fully.
Comala Comala, 17.15, Zoo Southside at 17:15 until August 25.
