Like some Hispanic Miss Havisham, Greta, garbed in bridal gear, awaits with groom laden hope as she writes love letter destined to attract RTS rather than RSVP.Her desperation for a spouse is illustrated in a film projection at the beginning of the show where she stalks and ambushes a young waiter.
Emerging from her gauze tent, Greta, in clown face of one quizzical eyebrow and cupid lip, is at first astonished at the assembled audience, but before long she is relishing playing to the gallery and eventually targets some members, bringing them on stage to engage in mock matrimonial.
Direct from Mexico, clowning sensation Gabriela Munoz presents her award winning solo show Perhaps, Perhaps…Quizás, quite a coup for the Old 505 Theatre.
Munoz's undeniable clowning skills are given full rein for the first part of the show, exercising a quantum of expression, especially in the eyes, to extract a maximum effect, either comic, poignant, mischievous or mournful.
Heaping on the Havishams, there's the making of a cream cake, initially a birthday cake with a single phallic candle that refuses to ignite, supplanted by a bride and groom effigy, the placement of which crumbles the makeshift wedding cake, a symbolic mess of her espousal expectations.
Suddenly, sick of being alone, she summons three members from the audience, two male, one female, to act as groom, priest and bridesmaid. Tons of toilet paper is unleashed, and the show becomes bogged down.
Audience participants released, the piece ends with a pathos laden epilogue littered with unanswered love letters but Greta's unbridled resilience sees her return to the writing desk and start composing a fresh correspondence, laced with the hope of future happiness.
Hilarious and heart wrenching, patron's response to the show will depend on their embracing of, or aversion to, audience participation, however Gabriela Munoz performance, a crowning clowning achievement, elevates Perhaps, Perhaps…Quizás' to a definite maybe.
Old 505 Theatre
Perhaps, Perhapps... Quizás
Gabriela Munoz
Venue: Old 505 Theatre | 5 Eliza Street, Newtown NSW
Dates: 2 – 13 May 2017
Tickets: $45 – $30
Bookings: www.old505theatre.com
