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New Shoots
Circociente- Risas de Papel (Paper Laughs)
Review by Lorna Irvine
Risas De Papel is a deeply eccentric, energetic but sweet show for all ages, created by eleven Mexican and Chilean theatre makers. Live colourful illustration by Isabel Gomez is projected onto the wall as an ever-shifting scenography, which adds to the piece's charm. Button, a homeless clown portrayed with equal parts mania and childlike sweetness, by Jorge Reza Cisneros (kind of a strange hybrid of Tom Waits and Harpo Marx) sleeps rough with only Chawana, a sprouting seedling, by his side. In this rough urban environment, imagination and wiles are all he has to rely on.
It is a slow burning performance. It has to be said that initially,I was a little resistant to the wacky charisma of Reza Cisneros' character, who cackles and exclaims, 'Yo!' and 'Oh, wow!' to his plant, as he pulls faces and performs tricks. But like a Pee Wee Herman, or any similar idiot savant, he becomes an endearing presence, who starts to develop into someone much richer and more complex as his situation becomes increasingly challenging.
Indeed, Button is a resilient and resourceful man. The elements are against him. There is a huge amount of pathos in the scenes where he takes shelter from thunder and lightning strikes, huddled against the ever-changing night sky, but these are as nothing when compared to a moment when brightly colured plastic bags fall from the sky- visually stunning; but also a warning about the proliferation of mass consumerism, greed and the blight on our planet.
Button attempts to build a makeshift home, and the visuals suddenly emulate computer game FX, but the city's property developers have other plans. Soon, Button's shelter is being bulldozed, and skyscrapers spring up. Here, Reza Cisneros is no longer just the character of Button: instead, he sports a mask, a horrible rictus grinning face,which represents a figure of gentrification and global corporate interest. It is genuinely creepy.
This piece works on many levels- on the one hand, children will find Button a lovable buffoon; and the imagery is imaginative, oozing vitality throughout. But above all,Circociente have created a thoughtful, bittersweet meditation on the notion of community, waste, and the excluded other. It's mad, sad and ultimately, really rather lovely.
