Surrealism at American Repertory Theatre

Conceived and directed by  Victoria Thierree-Chaplin

Starring Aurelia Thierree

Featuring Jaime Martinez (Nov.28-Dec 12) and Julio Monge (Dec 13-Jan 3)

Lights by Laura de Bernadis and Philippe Lacombe

Sound by Chaplin and Paolo Barucchi

Set by Chaplin

Costumes by Chaplin, Jacques Perdiguez, Veronique Grand and Monika Schwartz

Puppets by Chaplin

Presented by ART and Arktype

At the Loeb Drama Center

The American Repertory Theatre

Cambridge, MA

Through January 3, 2009

Approximately 70 minutes

www.amrep.org 

Beginning with the elegant magic of an extortionist in a chest of drawers and playing out over a series of dreamlike sequences, Aurelia's Oratorio brings to mind Surrealism, dreams and fantasies. Dance becomes life cycle movements while aerial tricks high above the stage are pure European circus. Red is color and color is fabric in the form of dress, ribbons, curtains and shoes. Do the ruby red slippers suggest Somewhere Over the Rainbow or just simply red high heels? Will we ever know? Probably not. And that adds to the mystery, the wonder and the delight.

Aurelia Thierree is Charlie Chaplin's elegantly beautiful and talented granddaughter. Her mother Victoria conceived her, this show and directed both. Victoria Thierree Chaplin is noted for creating the Cirque Imaginaire and Le Cirque Invisible as well as other performance pieces that are like this one, full of illusion and metaphor, music hall and circus, as well as transformative and magical. There is a lovely wit in many of the vignettes that may invoke wonder or just a sense of whimsey. The audience cannot help but smile.

Besides being a faux contortionist, Aurelia is an aerialist, a tightrope walker, and a transformation character moving from part to part, role to role. She dances and climbs, stretches and lies down. Puppets, in various sizes and shapes,  are part of the theatrical cast. Somehow she is able to manipulate them invisibly. These puppets both hand size and larger are very European, a bit coarse, antique-looking, roughly conceived, Punch and Judyesque, even childmade looking. Their theatricality adds to the sense of creative wonder and artistic quality of the production.

Fabric and thread are major elements during the performance. The huge amount of red fabric plays many characters. It is a continuing length that morphs into structure and swaths into tightrope or swings. Curtains become walls and moving environments. White lace scrolls into a snowstorm. Wonderfully, Aurelia's leg unravels with the thread of a stocking and is soon knitted back together. These images act as symbol and allegory.

Jaimie Martinez is a graceful dancer/actor who wrestles with anthropomorphized clothing and athletically as well as poetically dances with Aurelia. The coats and sometimes pants are sylphs, ghosts and perhaps consciences. Are these empty shirts or heavy soul coverings? Martinez brings a dancer's body with an actor's presence. This role is being taken over on December 13 by Julio Monge who will bring a different sensibility to these male lead roles.

All in Aurelia's Oratorio can be considered a dream. Distortion, individual thoughts and unexpected physical movement create the sequences. We are sometimes thrilled and often surprised. What should be up is often down and what is down is sometimes up. A kite flies a person. One vignette is about clocks and time. Dreams are not what is reality but what can be distorted or turned around, even turned inside out. This is a strangely medieval concept. There is something of Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights in it all. 

Aurelia's Oratorio has been played throughout the world. There is a quiet and at times eloquent beauty to the show. There is a universal resonance to it. Like a fantastic  Chinese Box or a set of living Matryushka dolls, Aurelia's Oratorio is a series of beautiful encapsulated visual metaphors that once unlocked inspire awe, foster imagination and cause delight.