If anyone has gotten the dosage right between a ridiculous world of fancy that pulls on the heartstrings by feeling real but saving us from heartbreak by reminding us that it is not real, it is Gabriela Munoz in this short numero.
A soft spoken clown with a hard-edged glint in her eye awaits her wedding day. With an open, relaxed face, a wedding gown that looks like it's seen better days, a squeaky voice that mostly repeats a few bars of the Wedding March, some toilet paper, and few other choice props, she takes us to some delightful emotional places while enacting her fantasy day.
And, cleverly, she gets it! Through some very nice audience participation work, she snags a groom. And then a wonderful transformation occurs where the innocent dreamer we just pitied turns into a petty dictator who will never be satisfied with her choice. It's a subtly played change that opened up a space to ponder the uglier sides of idealistic love, of wanting to be in love, and that uncomfortable encounter we sometimes face when an ideal turns into a person with his/her own wants and needs.
Love is a two way street? Love is not simple wish/nightmare fulfillment? Those thoughts, as a possible moral to the story, are there. Not sure if she planted them or I had them already planted when I walked in. It doesn't matter. The relevant point is that her strong, vulnerable, thoughtful, performance creates moments that invite both empathy and self-reflection. And she does it all while making me and rest of audience laugh out loud. Bravo!
I would love to see this short piece fleshed-out into a full-length show.
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