Thursday , March 28 2024
Music and dancing enliven these send-ups of the local ruling classes by the author of 'Don Quixote,' presented by INTAR in new translations.

Theater Review (NYC): ‘Oro a la Carta’ – Two Entremeses (Short Comedies) by Cervantes

INTAR, the venerable theater company known for producing “Latino Voices in English,” is presenting its first installment of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra’s eight Entremeses (one-act short plays) in a brief run through June 28. Co-produced by the Consulate General of Spain, the troupe’s initial foray into these comedic works by the author of Don Quixote comprises two high-spirited, culturally multicolored romps.

Two Entremeses by Miguel de Cervantes at INTAR. Photo credit: Carol Rosegg
Photo credit: Carol Rosegg

Music and dancing enliven both of these send-ups of the local ruling classes. The town council of Electing the Judges of Daganzo (La Elecciónde los Alcaldes de Daganzo) meets to choose a new judge from four comical candidates, each less qualified than the next. The officials break off their deliberations upon the arrival of a band of gypsies.

Itinerant entertainers bring to another town The Magical Puppet Show (El Retablo de las Maravillas) which, they claim, can’t be seen by foreigners or those born illegitimately. Only the Governor (Martina Potratz) admits, in asides, that he doesn’t see the conjured Biblical apparitions – that the emperor has no clothes. This bacchanal too is interrupted, this time by the quartermaster of a troop of soldiers demanding the town provide housing for his men.

In both mini-comedies, the raucous and in some ways unpolished production magnifies an atmosphere of bemused chaos. It’s possible to imagine something of what the original audiences experienced. Cervantes was writing about a Spain that was a stewpot of Christians, Muslims, and Jews, not to mention Gypsies (whom we now call Roma). Even in comedic form it wasn’t always peaceful or benevolent – one of Cervantes’s town councillors accuses another of being a “Christ-killer” – but it was culturally fertile.

Both plays show how comedic writers were free to satirize officialdom and the gentry. The Magical Puppet Show in particular illustrates and even comments directly on the place of the writer in society. I don’t know how true these new translations are to the originals, and thus I can’t say for sure how skillful they are. An apparently non-satirical use of the non-word “conversate” was a little disturbing. But the stylized, cartoonish exaggeration is obviously intended, and definitive. The casting of artificially bearded women in male roles only heightens the tone.

Director Rebecca Martínez does a good job managing the large cast and the broad physical comedy in a small space, and several cast members display multiple talents. Stefan Martin’s costumes and Joaquin Lopez’s music add luminous color. The production brings us works from a distant time and place, works most of us have never seen though they’re by one of history’s most famous writers. The Entremeses were written as comedic interludes between acts of a longer, drama production, and presenting them to a new, English-speaking audience is a serious purpose. Thankfully INTAR isn’t taking itself too seriously here. As a result, we can be entertained and learn something at the same time.

INTAR will present six more Entremeses over its next two seasons. The current production runs through June 28.

About Jon Sobel

Jon Sobel is Publisher and Executive Editor of Blogcritics as well as lead editor of the Culture & Society section. As a writer he contributes most often to Music, where he covers classical music (old and new) and other genres, and Culture, where he reviews NYC theater. Through Oren Hope Marketing and Copywriting at http://www.orenhope.com/ you can hire him to write or edit whatever marketing or journalistic materials your heart desires. Jon also writes the blog Park Odyssey at http://parkodyssey.blogspot.com/ where he is on a mission to visit every park in New York City. He has also been a part-time working musician, including as lead singer, songwriter, and bass player for Whisperado.

Check Also

Helen. featuring Lanxing Fu, Grace Bernardo, and Melissa Coleman-Reed (photo by Maria Baranova)

Theater Review: ‘Helen.’ by Caitlin George – Getting Inside Helen of Troy

In this compelling new comedy Helen of Troy is not a victim, a pawn, or a plot device, but an icon of feminist fortitude.