JULIETA at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

★★★★

“It may seem like a sad story to some, but Muñoz turns her character’s life into something oddly upbeat”

Julieta is the poignant story of a woman at the end of her life. Confined within a tiny space, she goes through the same motions every day, with only her memories for comfort. Oh, and a stuffed chicken. But clown Gabriela Muñoz, ably assisted by Gemma Raurell Colomer behind the scenes, presents us with a story not of sadness and regret, but a series of vignettes full of whimsical humour. Julieta doesn’t sugarcoat the difficulties of aging in place, it is true, but this show is also an opportunity to empathize with the character in good moments and sad ones. It is comic, and when all is said and done, quite uplifting in its own quirky way.

Julieta gets off to a slow start, but that’s also part of its charm. We get to examine the clever set (Rebekka Dornhege Reyes and Gemma Raurell Colomer), with all its offbeat surprises, as well as Julieta’s daily routine. It starts with feeding the stuffed chicken, of course, and then it’s time for Julieta’s own breakfast of crunchy medications. These are doled out by a hand in a sterile glove through one of the openings in the set. As the show proceeds, the things that come out of the set get more and more odd. Likewise, all Julieta’s daily doings seem normal enough, until they aren’t. Such as crossing off the day on the calendar, for example, and then turning it into a game of noughts and crosses. Exercise starts gently enough, but then things get out of control as Julieta gets on the step machine with a cocktail glass in hand. Most people start their day with a workout, Julieta waits until the cocktail hour. After we have gone through one of Julieta’s days (and that includes putting the chicken to bed), everything starts again. Except that things now move a little faster, and things get a bit more out of hand, and— oh yes, Julieta notices there’s an audience outside her little room. Now she can have some real fun!

Gabriela Muñoz is a gifted clown, and knows how to tell a story with her clowning. Her expressive face, particularly her eyes, are particularly adept at telling us her thoughts, without ever having to resort to words. Whether it’s the tug of war that she gets into with the pair of hands that constantly hand her things, or her opinion of the man she invites from the audience to paint her nails and then dance with her—we can always tell what she’s thinking. Muñoz’s clowning is founded on a gentle humour, though, and it is all the more effective for that. Her character Julieta may be old, but she has lots of love still to give. Just limited opportunities to express it. And that’s the heart of the humour, and the pathos, embedded in this unusual piece.

I was quite won over by Julieta, and its imaginative, iconoclastic approach to the art of clowning. The show is full of original touches. It may seem like a sad story to some, but Muñoz turns her character’s life into something oddly upbeat, in spite of its limitations. Cleverly done, effective, and well worth an hour of your time.

JULIETA at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe – Summerhall Main Hall

Reviewed on 7th August 2024

by Dominica Plummer

Photography by Brenda Islas

JULIETA

JULIETA

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