★★★★

“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.

BELLRINGERS at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

★★★★

“Paul Adefeya and Luke Rollason command the small space of the Roundabout Theatre without difficulty”

Daisy Hall’s Bellringers is a vividly imagined take on climate change, set somewhere in a possible future for the Cotswolds. A shortlisted play for the Women’s Prize in Playwriting, Bellringers is another coproduction by Atticist and Ellie Keel Productions, the same team that brought the luminous SAP to the Roundabout Theatre in 2022. Director Jessica Lazar is also on board once more, which means the show is in good hands. Despite all the supporting talent, however, and the competence of performers Paul Adeyefa and Luke Rollason, it doesn’t provide much of a journey for its leading characters. Set in a bell tower to the accompaniment of ceaseless rain and a gathering storm, two bellringers debate the world’s fate, and their own.

Bellringers takes place in an apocalyptic future where uncertainty about the world’s climate has driven scientific knowledge to the margins. In the place of radar and reliable weather reports, humans watch their environment for portents. They are keenly aware that they are living on borrowed time, as the sea moves inland and covers once productive land. Two monkish figures, Aspinall and Clement, have been assigned the task of ringing the bells. But it’s never clear whether they are supposed to ring the bells to warn their neighbourhood of an oncoming storm, or use the sound to drive the storm away. The two friends are also aware that ringing the bells could mean instant annihilation. The ceaseless rain has soaked everything, including the bell ropes.

It’s a dramatic situation, and the two friends are sympathetic characters. But there’s only so much one can do to pass the time waiting for a storm to strike the bell tower. Clement, the skeptic, and Aspinall the believer, spend a certain amount of time arguing like medieval philosophers, except that Clement can still remember a world where humans figured out what was going on by using the scientific method. Aspinall prefers the prophecies of his mother’s almanac. Both are afflicted by bad dreams, and an invasion of mushrooms.

Under Jessica Lazar’s assured direction, Paul Adefeya (Aspinall) and Luke Rollason (Clement) command the small space of the Roundabout Theatre without difficulty. Natalie Johnson’s set defines the boundaries with benches and bell ropes. But it’s sound designer Holly Khan and lighting designer David Doyle who create an experience so intense that one is never quite sure whether that is a real storm outside the Roundabout’s tent, or the sound and lighting effects of this talented team. Doyle and Khan use the limitations of the venue to maximum effect. All that Adefeya and Rollason have to do is to take that claustrophobic atmosphere of impending doom and run with it. Nevertheless, the script labours to maintain the suspense, even for seventy minutes. The mushroom theme reminds us that we have visited apocalyptic futures of renegade vegetable life before.

Bellringers offers no solution for our troubled bellringers, or any hope that they can somehow save what’s left of humanity in their village below. Daisy Hall’s vision is a bleak one, despite the wit and humour in the sparring between the two friends. Its visionary quality does offer a respite from overly naturalistic dramas, though. So if you like theatre that stretches the imagination while remaining firmly rooted in contemporary ecological issues, Bellringers is an easy pick at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe.

Tag Archives: Summerhall

JULIETA

★★★★

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

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 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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BELLRINGERS

★★★★

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

BELLRINGERS at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

★★★★

“Paul Adefeya and Luke Rollason command the small space of the Roundabout Theatre without difficulty”