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| 2004 |
PASSION… AND REMEMBRANCE! |
2005 |
14th
Season
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City Paper:
Friday
May 27, 2005–Thursday June 2, 2005
Continente Viril
("Virile Continente") Being told about something and experiencing it
are two very different things. Thus, people who understand
Argentina's culture and its history of the past 40 years may well
appreciate Teatro de la Luna's staging of Alejandro Acobino's
Continente Viril ("Virile Continent") more than others would. As for
the rest of us--well, we have an intriguing polar setting and
energetic staging to divert us, though it's hardly diverting enough
for a full two hours. The scene: a military base in Antarctica, a
sort of geographical booby-prize-pie being rapidly carved up by the
countries who occupy it. Two military men and one timid civilian
clerk are more or less trapped there; their only connections to the
rest of the world are via a clunky radio set, and the only other
humans they see are the residents of other bases, with whom they
maintain a desperate barter system for such essentials as record
albums and booze. Into this No Exit—like setting--and into Mariano
Lucioni's detailed but economical set, with its aging bureaucratic
furniture and its surprisingly large first-aid cabinet--comes a
young scientist studying a strange local phenomenon: Groups of local
penguins are committing suicide. Director Mario Marcel adroitly
presents the feverish intensity with which the base's residents
anticipate their new bunkmate--and their disappointment with his
standoffish ways. Unfortunately, it takes until Act 2 for this
disappointment to turn to something more sinister--and what has been
a MASH-like farce to erupt into sadism and violence. (PMW) Gunston
Arts Center Theater II, 2700 S. Lang St., Arlington. |
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Bob Anthony, Celia Sharpe, &
Nancy McCord - Freelance Arts Critics
Performing
Arts, May 25, 2005
The Teatro de la Luna has a well developed script with Alejandro
Acobino's "Continente Viril" and it is powerfully acted by four
excellent performers. It is really a bitter and abusive satire
of military Argentineans when confronted by a zoological
scientist who is out to discover why a group of penguins are
committing mass suicide when the same type of penguins on the
Chilean side of the border live happily in their group
arrangement. Angel Torres is the nasty colonel who rails against
the political overthrow of Argentina's army, and he scolds the
lackey soldier, the civil clerk and the scientist who are all
stationed in an antarctica seabase. He awaits his military
retirement in six months and his only chore in such present
isolation is as a "chicken s_ _ _" overlord. Peter Pereyra is
the slavish soldier and Carlos Parra is the repressed civil
servant and both are clever enough to keep the colonel soused to
avoid his scolding. Willie Padin is the effective but reclusive
scientist who finally discovers the cause of the penguin
suicides but is tortured so as not to disclose his findings
until the colonel retires. All sequences are strongly acted by
all four and Mr. Pereyra and Carlos Parra provide wonderful
comic relief particularly when they do their deceptive radio
broadcasts. Mario Marcel directs with fine comic and serious
finesse as called for. Ayun Fedorcha handles the surrealistic
lighting that provides symbolic overtones to the characters and
the setting. Mariano Lucioni provides an appropriately cluttered
setting to confirm a "macho" carelessness. This is a highly
recommended play in which the script and the actors are all
first rate. Teatro de la Luna is now using surtitles in English
which allows one to fully appreciate the acting without earphone
translation interference. (To 6/18) |
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Rich Massabny
Producer/Interviewer/Reviewer
“Arlington Weekly News” CHANNEL 69
Teatro de la Luna – “Continente Viril” (Virile Continent)
Arlington’s own Teatro de la Luna, closes out its successful
14th season with the comedy, “Continente Viril” or “Virile
Continent” by Argentinean Alejandro Acobino in its world
premiere at Gunston. Set on an Argentinean military base located
on the Antarctic continent, there are four male actors: a young
scientist, a civilian clerk, and a military colonel and
sergeant. This mini-bureaucracy is headed by Col. Melendez, who
is looking forward to retirement in 18 months and wants nothing
to get in the way. Sergeant Benitez, an understanding
paper-pusher, understands the need to keep the status quo – as
does the civilian. Unfortunately, the scientist has been
investigating the environment on the Antarctic and has noted
that penguins are dying. While watching this very funny, all too
real story – or as Teatro calls the humor… “surrealistic
grotesque satire” – one realizes the basic instinct of one’s
nature is not to rock the boat. It doesn’t matter if this is a
tale from Argentina or China, “Continente Viril” is an
everyman’s comedy – military or not. Artistic director Mario
Marcel once again lends his deft touch to an outrageous theme
and makes it plausible, with many thanks to the talented actors,
as I’m sure Marcel would agree. The actors are Angel Torres as
the Colonel, Peter Pereyra as the sergeant, Willie Padin, the
scientist and Carlos Parra, the clerk. The shows at Teatro de la
Luna are more enjoyable than ever with the English translations
now above the set, as opposed to using earphones. See this fun
piece at Gunston through June 18 at 2700 S. Lang St. in
Arlington. Call 703-548-3092 for information or check Teatro’s
website at www.teatrodelaluna.org
email: richmassabny@aol.com
website: www.richmassabny.com |
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Sun Gazette
Week
of June 2-9, 2005 © 2005 Suburban Washington Newspapers Inc.
Argentinean Satire Makes for
Good Outing
A review of Teatro de la
Luna's production of "Continente Viril" ["Virile Continent"]. by
MATT REVILLE
Few subjects are as ripe for parody as are the mindless
officiousness of military life and the arrogant
self-righteousness of environmentalists and their scientist
cohorts. When the two worlds collide, whoa nelly, look out.
Argentinean playwright Alejandro Acobino puts the conflict in
perspective in “Continente Viril” (“Virile Continent”), being
performed by Teatro de la Luna at Gunston Arts Center. In a
brisk two-hour performance directed by Mario Marcel, the company
manages to simultaneously go for laughs and plumb for deeper
meaning in the work. The result is a satisfying evening of
theater.
The plot goes something like this: For national pride’s sake,
Argentina is hanging onto its sliver of Antarctica, and although
the country’s military junta was overthrown in the 1980s, a
small contingent (read: “two soldiers”) of Argentina’s army have
been dispatched to an Antarctic base to ensure that other
countries do not encroach on its claims.
They are there in the wasteland with a single civil servant
assigned to do the paperwork, and then are joined by a scientist,
dispatched to uncover why penguins – and, ironically, only
penguins in the Argentina sector – are committing mass suicide.
The two acts are played out in a style that Teatro de la Luna is
describing as “surrealistic grotesque satire,” which sounds like
a title coined by an overtired committee. In truth, it simply
describes some of the character traits and the underlying
political subversiveness of the script – for although the
playwright was just a boy when the military ran Argentina, the
plot takes wide aim at the overall incompetence of military rule,
if only in a small shack in the Antarctic.
Angel Torres is the autocratic, heavy-drinking, Germany-worshiping
army colonel whose hopes for retirement seem to be quashed at
every turn. There’s something magically maniacal – almost
“Apocalypse Now”-like – in his performance.
Peter Pereyra has a googly-eyed charm as the sergeant who puts
up with the colonel’s outbursts. And Willie Padín is quite good
as the Argentine penguinologist with a Polish surname, sent to
find the reason behind the suicides.
But the evening clearly belongs to Carlos Parra as Perrupato,
the government clerk bent on following the rules in spite of
their silliness. He has a standout quality about him.
Marcel’s direction is deft; he shares an Argentinean heritage
with the playwright The set (Mariano Lucioni), costumes (Nucky
Walder) and lighting (Ayun Fedorcha) are all above par.
The show is in Spanish; for the first time, Teatro de la Luna
has abandoned simultaneous English translation service, instead
opting to use English surtitles flashed above the stage. They
were fine; if anything, they were a second in front of the
actual dialogue, giving those reading along first crack at the
jokes.
It’s an energized evening of theater, a solid outing for those
who know the history being parodied, and for those who are just
along for the ride.
Given some of the language and themes, Teatro de la Luna
suggests the play is appropriate for ages 15 and older.
“Continente Viril” (“Virile Continent”) continues through June
18 at Gunston Arts Center Theatre II, 2700 South Lang St. in
Arlington.
Performances are Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 3
and 8 p.m. Tickets are $15-$25.
For information, call (703) 548-3092 or see the Web site at
www.teatrodelaluna.org. |
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Washington Post by Michael Toscano
'Continente Viril' Turns
Satiric Gaze on Argentine Junta
Special to The
Washington Post
Thursday, June 2, 2005; Page VA06
Why are penguins in
Antarctica committing mass suicide? To be more precise, why are
penguins in an Argentine sector of Antarctica the only ones
killing themselves? The question arises, as you might expect, in
satire.
In a society where justice has sometimes been ephemeral, people
learn to use symbolism and stereotypes to tell a story, a
discipline embraced by Argentinean playwright Alejandro Acobino
in "Continente Viril," the season finale for Teatro de la Luna,
Arlington's Spanish-language theater company.
Acobino was just a child during the violent rule of the military
junta that seized power in Argentina in 1976 and went on a
rampage against the citizenry. The military lost control of the
country in 1983, but not before thousands of people vanished
without a trace. But in this outpost in an Argentine sector of
Antarctica, the "virile continent," the junta is a fond memory
for some, and the tools of its trade are still close at hand
some time after the return to civilian rule. There is still a
war going on, but now it is being waged against nature, the once
pristine continent being despoiled by humans. Meanwhile, some of
the humans exiled to this melting piece of real estate seem more
concerned with clinging to some crumbling sense of order than
allowing science to fulfill its mission, and a little microcosm
of the previous military/political society is regenerated.
It sounds deadly serious, but Acobino has written a spoof,
scathing to those who understand the symbolism and an enjoyable,
broadly played comedy with occasionally dark undertones for
everyone else. A young scientist named Sosnowsky (Willie Padin)
is sent to ascertain why penguins are opting for death near a
tiny military encampment that serves primarily as a radio
station. The station is a potent symbol of power in a
totalitarian state, even if few can hear its remote signal.
We first meet Sosnowsky as he records his observations on the
deck of the ship taking him to the installation, the quirky
nature of the story immediately evident as he detaches the
ship's railing and carries it with him to the base. Does that
mean this scientist carries his own reality with him wherever he
goes, even as he ventures into the surreal world Acobino has
cooked up for him? Uh, sure. Why not? After all, director Mario
Marcel describes his approach to the play as "surrealistic
grotesque satire." And that sure sounds like a detached railing.
The scientist is greeted by two eccentric military officers and
a fussy civil servant with delusions of grandeur. Marcel employs
distinctly different acting methodologies with his cast, hoping
the mix of styles adds up to a satisfying melange. Somehow it
does. Soldiers Benitez (Peter Pereyra) and Melendez (Angel
Torres) are caricatures, rendered in the so-called grotesque
discipline of the commedia dell'arte tradition, with exaggerated
motion and broad acting. Each soldier hews to military procedure
at the expense of common sense. Civil servant Perrupato (Carlos
Parra) dances around logic to avoid responsibility, his personal
reality a surreal blur. The scientist attempts to impose
rational discipline on the intellectual chaos he finds, making
him the perfect vessel of satirical comment as Padin plays it
fairly matter-of-factly.
The actors are energetic, the pacing is rapid and the laughs are
many. There are even a few chills, though not of the Arctic
variety.
But, unfortunately, Marcel has opted to forgo simultaneous
English translation via headsets, which worked marvelously,
replacing it with surtitles flashed on an overhead screen.
That's a huge mistake. Anything taking audience eyes off actors
diminishes their effectiveness, and it's a tiring nuisance to
non-Spanish speakers in attendance. Let's hope this experiment
will be judged a failure and the headsets returned when Teatro
de la Luna begins its new season in October.
"Continente Viril," performed by Teatro de la Luna, continues
through June 18 at Gunston Arts Center's Theater Two, 2700 S.
Lang St., Arlington. Showtimes are 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and
Saturdays, with matinees at 3 p.m. on Saturdays. |
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Washington Post
by Tricia Olszewski
Teatro's 'Continente
Viril': Comedy Lost in Translation
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, June 2, 2005; Page C04
The setup of "Continente Viril"
sounds like the beginning of a joke: A scientist, a clerk and
two soldiers are living on an Argentine military base in the
Antarctic. The scientist is visiting to conduct a study of
penguins on the base, prompted after a number of them apparently
committed suicide.
"Did you notice anything strange about them?" he asks one of his
hosts. "Yes," the soldier responds. "They suicided!"
Most of Teatro de la Luna's "Continente Viril" ("Virile
Continent") is as breezy as that punch line, though when the
scientist's closing monologue speaks of a "rite of passage," you
may feel as if you've missed something. Indeed, in the playbill,
director (and Teatro co-founder) Mario Marcel refers cryptically
to a historical moment captured in Alejandro Acobino's comedy,
as well as "happenings that, ghostlike, prowl through various
generations of Argentines even today." With no specifics about
what those happenings might be -- not even a time period is
specified -- theatergoers not intimately familiar with Latin
American history will likely view "Continente Viril" as nothing
more than a slight story about four men and some kamikaze birds.
Even the acting style is accorded weight that doesn't seem to be
earned: Marcel refers to his approach as "surrealistic grotesque
satire," though audiences may just call it slapstick. Teatro's
cast members throw a lot of energy into their odd characters,
especially Carlos Parra as the base's slightly neurotic but
relentlessly cheery administrator, Perrupato, and Angel Torres
as Col. Melendez, a never-satisfied browbeater who expresses
frustration by furiously slapping at his own head. Willie Padin
and Teatro regular Peter Pereyra play the more subdued
scientist, Sosnowsky, and underling Sgt. Benitez, respectively,
and although neither character is overtly comic, each gets his
share of one-liners as well.
Despite its occasional funny moments, the two-act "Continente
Viril" tends to drag, the victim of a weak narrative. Not much
happens in nearly two hours: Sosnowsky talks into his tape
recorder about his observations, the other guys check out his
credentials and ask questions about his career, and quite often
they simply get drunk. Act 2 moves a little more briskly, with
an unsuccessful card game that shows off the cast's timing and
an unexpected dramatic turn in which Sosnowsky, having come up
with a theory about the penguins' behavior, now has to fear for
his own life.
All of the action takes place on Marcel's divided set, dominated
by the base's office/radio station with one corner of the stage,
helped by slides projected on a background screen, serving as
the great outdoors.
As with all of Teatro's productions, "Continente Viril" is
presented in Spanish, though the company's method of
interpretation for English speakers has changed: Instead of the
traditional simultaneous interpretation via headset, this
staging uses surtitles. The dialogue, translated by Gae Schmitt,
is clear and well timed; one drawback is the placement of the
surtitle screen in the front of the stage, which makes it more
difficult to read and keep one's eyes on what's going on than if
the projection were set toward the back.
The bigger problem, however, is the failure of Acobino's script
to illuminate any of the deeper meaning his story seems intended
to impart. At one point Sosnowsky admits, "Sometimes science
doesn't have the answers to all enigmas." Neither do critics.
Continente Viril , by Alejandro Acobino, translated by Gae
Schmitt. Directed by Mario Marcel. Set, Mario Marcel; lighting,
Ayun Fedorcha; sound, Mario Marcel; costumes, Nucky Walder.
Approximately two hours. Through June 18 at Gunston Arts Center,
2700 S. Lang St., Arlington. |
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