The work of Colombian novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez is tremendously difficult to adapt to the stage, given Marquez’s signature style: a blend of fantastic and poetic elements, dreamlike or nightmarish scenes, a mixture of the surreal with the mundane. But GALA Hispanic Theatre is clarifying the complicated nature of Marquez’s “magical realism” in its production of “La Candida Erendira” (“The Innocent Erendira and her Heartless Grandmother”) in an adaptation by director Jorge Ali Triana and Carlos Jose Reyes.
| If you go |
| “La C?ndida Er?ndira” |
| Based on the novel by Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez |
| Adaptation by Jorge Al? Triana and Carlos Jos? Reyes |
| GALA Hispanic Theatre, 3333 14th St., NW |
| 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays through February 27 |
| Tickets: $32 to $36 |
| 202-234-7174 |
| www.galatheatre.org |
“La Candida” begins in a strange, barren place. The set creates an inhospitable wasteland where a room with a rocking chair and an old-fashioned victrola becomes a prison in which fourteen-year-old Erendira must do her cruel grandmother’s bidding.
Triana and Reyes weave together the irrationality of Marquez’s tale while keeping a tenuous connection to the rational world. Thus the grandmother (Laura Garcia) is at first just an outrageous old crank, issuing ridiculous orders to the hapless, innocent Erendira (Paola Baldion).
But when Erendira knocks over a candle and sets her grandmother’s house on fire, the old lady exacts a horrible vengeance, making her granddaughter prostitute herself until she has earned enough money to pay for everything that was lost in the fire.
After the fire, the grandmother and Erendira wander the desert, meeting a strange cross-section of humanity: musicians, a photographer, Indians, nuns and priests. They also meet the handsome young Ulises (Ignacio Meneses), who falls in love with Erendira and urges her to run away with him.
The concept of movement in this “Candida Erendira” is key, emphasizing the fact that there will never be rest for Erendira. Time is circular, non-linear. The end of the play exactly mirrors the beginning.
The cast at GALA is superb, as is Triana’s impeccable direction. Baldion and Meneses are particularly noteworthy as the only symbols of hope in this dead zone. An essential element of the production is the music, by German Arrieta. Music director Jose Arturo Chacon, an experienced opera singer, appears from time to time to sing passionate Colombian folksongs.
Fortunately, in their adaptation, Triana and Reyes did not try to duplicate Marquez’s style. Instead, they chose to create an onstage world that is faithful to the spirit of Marquez’s writing, where the words make logical sense, but are inspired and propelled by a deep and profound illogic.
