[2014053] A Special Day
Por Piedad Teatro @ Holden Street Theatres – The Arch
9:30pm, Sun 23 Feb 2014
It seems like every Fringe there is an absolute gem of a theatre production that, despite word-of-mouth and critical plaudits alike, just doesn’t get the audience it deserves… and I fear that A Special Day was the unlucky bearer of that cross this year. That’s not for want of trying, though: I saw actors Ana Graham and Antonio Vega everywhere during the Fringe, trying to drum up interest from the Mall to the Garden and Gluttony to the Markets… it breaks my heart to think that they slogged away to little reward.
Because they really deserved to have massive crowds in, rather than the lazy dozen that turned up this evening.
As we took our seats, Ana and Antonio wander the stage, chatting amiably with the audience – small talk, curious questions, how’s-your-day-been. They keep the conversation flowing – sometimes almost uncomfortably so, given the size of the audience (or lack thereof) – while they change into their costumes… then, with a crisp greeting, they became a flurry of movement: dragging small tables and collections of props into position, and purposefully chalking the features that define the walls of a home onto the blackboards that lined the back and sides of the stage.
We soon learn that the room is set in Rome, on a day when Hitler is visiting Mussolini in 1938. Antonietta (Graham) guides her family through their morning routine and out the door; a moment’s rest allows her the opportunity to spend some time admiring the family’s pet bird (trapped within the confines of a chalk birdcage). She opens the cage (some nifty re-sketches required), but the bird escapes; she tracks it into the home of her neighbour, Gabriel (Vega).
A scene change requires more blackboard scribbling, and suddenly we’re within Gabriel’s house… and he’s got a gun in his hand, contemplating suicide. He swallows his pain (and, one suspects, the remnants of his pride) and answers the door; reluctantly at first, with the shy stiffness of two unfamiliar neighbours, they chase the bird, then engage in conversation. And here the play develops a bit of a darker undercurrent: the fascism of the day is never really talked about directly, but there’s little doubt that Gabriel is in some danger because of his beliefs. Antonietta’s more circumspect approach to political thought frustrates him at first, but as their friendship grows – they drink coffee, hang out washing, change light bulbs (all wonderful chalk-inspired moments) – they start challenging each other’s thinking.
A Special Day was – in a word – beautiful. The visual aesthetic delivered by the simplistic (yet completely functional) blackboard drawings was a delight; the actors’ interactions with sketched windows, doorbells, and smoke was wonderful, and rarely felt gimmicky. And the performances of Ana and Antonio were gorgeous – though their accents occasionally got a little heavy, the sincerity (and charm, and pathos, and humour) of their characters was allowed to shine through. And, most of all, I left The Arch feeling like I’d been rewarded for having taken a chance on this production.
Sure, A Special Day received its share of recognition throughout the Fringe: it picked up a Weekly Award for Best Theatre in week two, and snaffled The Peace Foundation Award at the end-of-Fringe ceremonies. But for a theatrical production that was so touching, so poignant, and so beautifully executed, a better reward would have been masses of bums in seats… because the owners of those bums would have gone away very happy. A Special Day was special indeed.
(53) A Special Day: Beautiful storytelling and wonderful production – a cross-cultural delight. #ff2014 #ADLfringe
— Pete Muller (@festivalfreakAU) February 24, 2014