●●●●○

 

Dan Colley’s reinterpretation of the short story by Gabriel García Márquez, sparks wonder and imagination into the Dublin Fringe Festival, infusing an international element on the Irish stage. Márquez is a Columbian writer who has won the Noble Prize for Literature and his most illustrious novels include One Hundred Years of Solitude and The Autumn of the Patriarch. Through the animated and amusing version in the Project Arts Centre, what is traditionally deemed a children’s story transcended age limitations, as laughter and gasps bellowed from both children and adults alike, making it a universal show that magnetised every row.

 

The duo of narrators played by Genevieve Hulme-Beaman, who injects quirky and comedic elements and the more bashful Manus Halligan energised the tale of the old angel, prompting the audience to linger onto their every word. The story is a simple one in terms of a plot line, it is about a withered angel who is discovered on a beach one night by the parents, Pelayo and Elisenda who are worried about their sick infant. In a state of superstition, they lock the angel in a chicken coop and he quickly becomes a local spectacle whom they profit off through merchandise, as their home is transformed into a pilgrimage site.

 

Magical realism is seamlessly translated through a village of figurines, creating a microcosmic stage and infusing an element of childlike play into the performance, evoking nostalgia. Whilst the use of a projector and camera thrust this play into the modern era of technology and from functional point of view, it also enabled close-up shots for the figurines in question, making it accessible even to those sitting at the back. As well as this, the entrancing singing from Genevieve and comic sound effects from Manus added another layer of liveliness and colour to the performance.

 

The cautionary line which opened the play: “don’t go looking for a lesson because there isn’t any to be found”, satisfied the abrupt ending. In an analytical world, where everything is constantly dissected for greater meaning, this line had a relaxing effect, allowing the audience to fully immerse themselves into the bizarre and often haunting world onstage. For those rebels in the audience, that flouted the statement, deeper meaning was to be found in abundance in this story of vulnerability and freedom, one that ultimately explores what it means to be human.