[star rating =3/5]
CREATED by the Spanish company Enebro Teatro, this tribute to the playwright and poet Frederico Gracia Lorca was visually stunning. However, the plot of this production was quite hard to follow, which stole some of the enjoyment from the performance.
The story revolves around two young male drama students who are preparing to perform Lorca’s The Public to complete their course. David Pereira (the acrobat and dancer) glided around the stage with a simple shopping trolley as his prop and partner, while Daniel Migueláñez (the poet) recited Lorca’s poems in their original Spanish text as they rehearsed together.
The dance and the poetry complement each other in a way that was slightly erotic, creating a powerful chemistry between the two men. However, Daniel is unwilling to embrace his passion for David due to fear, in spite of David’s frustrated efforts to get him to admit his love.
This doomed love story is another tribute to Lorca, who was gay himself, though it’s unclear whether he’s the fearful Daniel or the heartsick David in this scenario.
The language of the play was poetic throughout and filled with metaphors, but this sadly had the side effect of losing some its audience along the way. It was sometimes hard to know exactly what Daniel and David were talking about, which in turn caused the thread of the plot to become lost.
In terms of acting, Daniel and David were arguably some of the best at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe. They struck all the right notes as they told this story of complicated love filled with conflict and passion, knowing exactly when and where to increase the drama.
Daniel delivered Lorca’s poems with crispness and feeling, which perfectly matched David’s graceful and powerful dancing. Even if the audience didn’t fully understand what was going on, nobody in the room could tear their eyes away from the duo if they wanted to.
