Previously published in NiteLifeExchange
Alejandra Matus and her partner Dabit Azofeifa (Tromba Vetusta) were asked by Act2PV’s Entertainment Director, David Sabella, to come up with a new show that combines their evident skills in playing musical instruments, singing, dancing, mime, juggling (yep, they are both clowns in the Cirque du Soleil tradition), and wrap those attributes around a base of sensuality.
Saturnalia unfolds layer by layer in small vignettes, with one of these fine actors setting a scene wildly different from the preceding one, leaving the stage, then the other picks up the pieces and plays with them.
In one scenario, Dabit tries on a sportcoat that is obviously too big for him and wears it inside out, upside down, getting tangled in the fabric, and finally puts it back on the hangar and leaves the stage, seemingly in anger, fear, and/or, frustration. Sometime later, Ale teases us, easing her elbow-length glove off one hand using her teeth, and approaches the coat hanging on stage. She buries her face in the lapels, and her one red-gloved arm slips inside and appears at the end of the coat sleeve. The gloved hand slowly strokes her face and shoulders, pulls her in closer, and creeps down her arms as the light on the stage dims. She snuggles dreamily into the coat as she would her lover. It was voyeuristic, strangely erotic, and extraordinary, but being out of the ordinary is something this Costa Rican couple thrives on.
Their costumes for this show were created by Neothy Lavender, a young designer who proudly and justifiably struts his own stuff. Ale and Dabit could have been court jesters from long ago and far away with just the right amount of glitter and fringe.
Dabit uses his lithe and muscular body in a strip tease, unlike anything you will see anywhere ever. Imagine he is balancing with his feet on a board that is sitting on a round piece of PVC on top of a cocktail table two feet off the stage floor. And now watch him balance and remove his bloomers without crashing down. And then the tricks that followed with two hula hoops while balancing on the same teeter-y board!
There were hat tricks that had nothing to do with hockey, and if you immediately think of Lawrence Welk, if someone says the word “accordion,” you have never seen Dabit play one.
These are mere parts of Saturnalia. Enjoy a matinee every Friday at the Casa Karma Red Room at Act2PV, at 5 pm.
