Rothar
The Ark
★★★★☆
A chair is not especially funny of its own accord, but in Mon Oncle, when the great silent comedian Jacques Tati’s attempts to get comfortable in a modern Acapulco design, it’s one of several hilarious tussles with the sleek furniture and high-tech gadgets found at his cod Corbusier creation, Villa Arpel.
This spirit of Monsieur Hulot, Tati’s on-screen alter-ego, is a palpable presence in Rothar, the latest all-ages and early years offering from Galway’s Branar theatre company.
The entire action takes place in a small bicycle shop where two boys – youthfully essayed by grown-up performers Miquel Barceló and Moisés Mas García – play with bits and bobs, fashioning a sequence of imaginative adventures from everyday objects.
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From the offset, Barceló – in Breton stripes, a lovely Gallic touch from costume designer Elaine Mears – is aching to open a mysterious drawer in the workshop. After much anticipation, he reveals a cavity that – in the time-honoured tradition of Kiss Me Deadly’s radioactive suitcase – is bathed in light.
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What lurks inside? Small figurines, including a bicycle, a circus tent and a train, each ushering in different exciting episodes.
Chekhov never said anything about a saxophone hanging on the wall, but designer Maeve Clancy creates a great deal of anticipatory fun with a wonderful array of props. What will they get up to with that bucket? Or that lamp?
Emulating the vast expanse of a child’s capacity for conjuring, blue roll is transformed into a scarf and later, an ocean. A leafblower apes the sensation of wind against the embattled cyclist’s face. A lamp is the sun, then lightning. A multicoloured golf umbrella becomes a big top. A bin bag is a rain cloud.
Under the careful gaze of Branar’s artistic director Marc Mac Lochlainn, there are moments of mimicry between the two performers; putting arms in sleeves and brushing down garments produces a symphony of movement that recalls the work of Jacques Lecoq and his schooled buffoons.
Spanners are thrown and exchanged with remarkable precision and timing.
A very international production forged by Drama NUI Galway and Baboró International Arts Festival for Children, Rothar is wordless primarily, though occasionally punctuated by nonsense syllables or childish exclamations (“I win!” or “No!”). Appositely, it is theatre that transcends language and nationality.
Barceló maintains an appealing sense of wonder as he explores his environment and performs amazing tricks with a hat. By the end, he has truly earned those Marcel Marceau-friendly stripes.
García is equally impressive and his compositions make incredible use of bicycle chains, friction, clapping, an airboard and – oh, yes – a saxophone.
Projections and pretty rotating shadow shapes add to the magic.
Rothar continues at The Ark, as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival, until Sunday, October 1st
