André & Dorine
Reviewed by Amanda L. Andrei
Latino Theatre Company
Through June 19
RECOMMENDED
Tap. Tap. Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap – zzzzum!
A cello strum interrupts furious typewriting, our introduction to an elderly couple in their simple flat: André (José Dault, Edu Cárcamo), a writer of thick, serious-looking books, and Dorine, a gifted cellist. They’re sparring without words, touch, or even facial gestures—each actor wearing masks (designed by Garbiñe Insausti) caught in liminal grins, lips almost turning upwards. Is that smile about to start or fade?
Devised by Kulunka Teatro (Garbiñe Insausti, José Dault, Iñaki Rikarte, Edu Cárcamo, Rolando San Martin), André & Dorine gorgeously and wordlessly takes us to that liminal space of mind and memory as Dorine starts to show signs of dementia, her condition interrupting the flow of her family’s life. First, a misplaced cello bow. Then, a doctor’s appointment. Gradually, a home caregiver. Books and pride become less important as André reflects on his shared life with his partner. Their son’s timidity transforms into action. Yayo Cáceres’ scores and songs dramatize their interior life and mental states, whether it be grief, romance, or celebration, while Laura Gómez’s set demonstrates the malleability of memory and the groundedness of home as actors shift beds and benches upstage, witnessed by the ever-present office and music rehearsal nook.
Established in 2010 in the Basque region of Spain, Kulunka Teatro “arose out of a shared interest in experimenting with different performance languages in order to make theatre accessible to audiences of all kinds,” resulting in a wordless play that, with the addition of masks and detailed choreography, creates a world both charmingly strange and captivatingly familiar. From the titular characters to the minor ones, each persona becomes larger than life and archetypal, especially when you consider that three actors cover fifteen roles in the span of only eighty minutes. Yet Kulunka skillfully brings us back to daily life by living and reveling in the details: a struggle to put on a sock, the bathroom suffering from body odor. And not to mention the most hilarious love scenes you’ll see onstage this year.
There may be some moments of murkiness between memory and the present, such as elder André knocking on his desk and younger André reacting in his bed – is the elder summoning the younger? Is the younger dreaming? But the ambiguity of this scene does not lead the audience far from the story – rather, it serves as a point of conversation after leaving the theater, where you can wonder about how past, present, and future selves blend into each other.
In the wake of the play, I considered this story as a grief story punctuated by love. But then I thought –perhaps it is the opposite. Love, punctuated by grief. And on further reflection, why should one emotion be the background and one the foreground? André and Dorine is about living a full life in all its bittersweetness and vulnerabilities, receiving and acting upon and surrendering to what comes. If you know someone with dementia or caretake for the elderly, you’ll recognize yourself. If you aren’t familiar with that world, you’re learning what to do should you encounter it one day. Through André and Dorine’s deep relationship, Kulunka Teatro stunningly and graciously gives us recognition for when the inevitable comes for us. How will we care, how will we love, and how will we cherish each other to our end and beyond?
Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St., Dwntwn.; Wed.-Sun., 8 pm; thru June 19. https://latinotheaterco.org
