AN EXQUISITE EXPERIENCE BETWEEN THE AUDIENCE AND THE ACTORS.
Published on August 31, 2017, in the daily paper EL TRIBUNO, Argentina.
Author: María Eugenia Montero
ORIGINAL IN SPANISH HERE
A large ship slowly docks to shore. On the shore, a seated man intensely follows its arrival and tries to understand its unexpected presence. This is the first image from the stage scenery in Birds in the house. The following is a sequence of flawless imaginations, beautiful images, and the precise work of actors accompanied by gorgeous music.
The play was featured in the Mitre Historic Theatre in Jujuy and was the first performance of the North-Argentine part of the CT INT 2017 festival. It’s a traveling festival which is played in all regions of Argentina and is organized by the National Theatre Institute. Birds in the House is one of two foreign plays that the spectators have a chance to see in 5 cities of the northern part of our country.
There are two actors – Ján Sklenár (Serbia) and Peter Serge Butko (Czech Republic), who is also the author and director of the play. Both dressed in tight black costumes, become precise creators of minimalist motion images, manipulating either puppets or objects, intertwine with the story projected on a large canvas in the background of the stage, creating a specific aesthetic stage design.
And thanks to the very fine work of the lighting, the play captures the audience with its visual language, and the images on the scene make the audience feel emotional. Special attention is earned by the music of composer Jaroslav Zima (Serbia), which is undoubtedly one of the important elements of the performance. It fills the scenic images with power and beauty, creates an emotional veil that slowly envelops and immerses the viewer into the story of the play.
Creators of the performance announced in advance in the promotional materials the slow progression of the performance, which is without a doubt a noteworthy aspect of this piece. It allows the spectator to undisturbedly watch the finesse of the actor’s work. The colors black, white, red, and silver alternate in the performance as a medium which protects and attacks Man, and in moments they embody the image of a strange figure of a woman in white, who, as if secretly is pleading for forgiveness, for love. Yet she deceives, suffers, manipulates, only to in the end return to the ship from which she entered the play in the beginning and turns into a bird. It remains for the viewer to understand her identity. Is it human consciousness, is it a soul …?
Each image of this precisely portrayed performance is a separate piece of art, slowly evoking different emotions in the viewers, through which many spectators make their own individual interpretations of the scenic images, and according to the creators, it is the correct way to understanding the performance. The protagonists and their puppets are confronted with life and death, loss and gain, darkness and light, interpersonal relationships, mutual dependence on each other in love, and the impending risk of hurt until the final cleansing and release. The audience filled the theatre to the last seat and the performance was appraised by a standing ovation, expressing, among other things, appreciation for the opportunity to see this form of theatre, whose appeal lies in the fact that it brings beauty and tenderness, offers space for contemplation and self-reflection.
