Zona Franca – Dublin Theatre Festival – Review

28 – 30 Sep – O’Reilly Theatre, Belvedere College
ALICE RIPOLL AND CIA SUAVE, BRAZIL

As you enter the theatre, the troupe of dancers is already on stage. They’re dressed in a relaxed fashion, singing, dancing and playing drums. The house lights are on and they ignore the audience as they take their seats. This casual introduction to the performers continues until the announcements are made and the production starts in earnest.

This is a production by choreographer Alice Ripoll and her company Cia Suave. Alice is based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She entered the world of dance in an unusual fashion, as she studied psychology before changing to dance. This production is for ten dancers and is an unruly and wild affair. She is said to be “motivated by curiosity about the body’s capabilities and a desire to explore movement”.

The stage is almost completely bare at the start of the production. There is a series of lights at the back of the stage, which are used throughout the production to alter the mood. There are also a number of large silver balloons hanging high above the heads of the performers. The balloons are filled with a variety of items, from confetti to small lights. As the production continues, these balloons are burst, so the stage fills with their detritus, scattering in all directions.

There is a warning outside the theatre that the performance contains nudity and strobe lighting, and both these warnings are justified! The nudity is relatively brief but it may rule out some younger visitors. The production is quite a sexual in nature, with many young bodies clambering over each other. There is one particular scene where a woman is slowly wheeled across the stage on a trolley. She has her back to the audience and her legs are spread wide, as she clenches her bottom in time to the music! A frivolous moment that got a cheer from the opening night crowd.

There are many leisurely scenes in the production, where the stage is dim and the dancers slowly move, lost in their own world. Some sleep or lie intertwined. Some play with confetti and laugh in the background. These gentle moments are used to contrast the scenes where the music is loud and the dancers cavort in wild abandon. There are moments where several dancers fall into harmony in motion, whereas in other scenes they move in isolation. There is a feeling of hysteria, like you’ve stumbled upon a wild party and watch it from the sidelines.

Ireland has a large Brazilian population and many were present on opening night. It was lovely to hear them cheer the performers in their native Portuguese. It’s a production that explores the moments of fun in life when everything seems right and you’re living in the moment.