De La Guarda Villa Villa :: essays research papers

Is it a musical? A play? It’s more like a Circus!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On March 1, 2001, I had the great opportunity to see a very unique Off-Broadway variety show named De La Guarda, written, directed, and designed by Pichon Baldinu and Diqui James. The theatre presenting this show is the Daryl Roth Theatre, which is located at 20 Union Square East, just a few blocks from Baruch College. There were many interesting moments in the show that one would be definitely surprised if he had no prior knowledge about the show. What makes this show the most interesting is that it is not traditional theatre whatsoever. Everything is changed, including the area where it is performed. There is no real plot, but there are many artistic scenes throughout the show. Although there is no real plot, the performers present a wide range of emotions from one part of the show to the next that makes the audience members crave for the next emotion. It is a definite attention getter and everything including in the show, such as props and the performers themse lves, makes the audience a part of the show.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  From the moment an audience member enters the theatre, he is welcomed with refreshments and waits in the basement until an usher calls the audience to come upstairs to the main performance area. Since the tickets purchased for the show say â€Å"General Admission,† there are no assigned seats and the audience is left standing in a large dark square room, with four black walls and a white ceiling. The once empty room becomes filled with people waiting for the show to begin. Ushers remain in the room to guide the audience to move from one area to the next because the performers may need room to perform later in the show.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At 8pm, the show begins from the ceiling. Shadows of flying people grace the stage above. The directors’ attempt to make the mood as serene as possible is established through the music and the props. There is a dreamlike music playing that puts the audience in a peaceful mood. Raindrops slowly hit the white paper ceiling and little balls, that seem to be magnetic, are placed by the floating people above. The little balls move all in different directions and finally stop forming a big mass of balls. Little props, such as little horses and dinosaurs, are placed on the white paper and the performers play with them to make the audience amused.