AUTHOR: George Tabori
TITLE: Las variaciones Goldberg
DIRECTOR: Josep Maria Mestres
DATE AND PLACE: 1ST December 2005, Teatro Rialto.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
MR. JOTA: A man in his fifties. He is the director of the play which is performed within this own play and wears an elegant and dark suit. His attitude is very fine and polite, with a great eloquence and a good presence on stage. He looks very dominant when he treats Goldberg with inferiority and he seems to seduce Teresa Tormentina and the rest of the woman who appears on stage. What we can see is that he wants to control all details of the play.
GOLDBERG: He is a young and thin man. He seems not to be as dominant as Mr. Jota. During all the play, he contributes new ideas to perform the play, but Mr. Jota thinks that those ideas are absurd. He performs Christ and Moises and tries to get a good performance. His speech is eloquent, sometimes insecure, but it is comfortable to the audience. I think he is a submissive man who does not express all that he wants because he is afraid of words of Mr. Jota.
JAFET: He is young, small, thin and hilarious man. His speech and performance is childlike. He performs Isaac, a child, and he also appears performing with the music group.
MARI: He is the woman who appears on stage to clean the scene. Her appearance is humble, her speech is insecure and her voice is high-pitched. She seems to support to Mr. Jota. He sometimes needs to talk to somebody and the person that is here is Mari. It is like if Mr. Jota and Mari had had some kind of relation at the past. At the end of the play, she performs one of women who accompany Christ in his crucifixion.
ERNESTINA VAN DEED: She is the woman that directs scenery in the play. She wears a skirt and a jacket. This character is very nervous. She often argues with Mr. Jota because of organisation in the play. She also seems to have had any relation with Mr. Jota. At the end, she retires because she gets angry with him.
TERESA TORMENTINA: She is an actress in the play which is performed. She seems a sensual and beautiful woman. Mr. Jota is in love with her and desires her. Her mentality is very liberal and represents Eva in paradise playing the lead in sex scenes with other characters. This one represents lewdness and sin in our society. She does not want to surrender to Mr. Jota and performs one of the women who accompany Christ.
RAAMAH: He is other actor. He performs Caín, a father in a family and Abraham. He seems to be a tall and thin man. He does not agree with Mr. Jota in some aspects and we can see him acting in the music group and performing a man who nails a lance to Christ.
MASCH: He is a small, chubby and hilarious man. His performances are very good. It is very funny to see how performs the snake in paradise. He also performs Abel, a mother in a family, Sara (Isaac’s mother) and one of the crucified. His voice tone is loud.
HELL’S ANGELS: They represent a crazy, perverted and licentious society.
SPACE: It is represented
the stage of the play which is performed. There is a spiral staircase. Elements
are movable. The spaces we can see performed in the play are the following
ones: paradise,
ILLUMINATION: It is lineal until hell’s angels appear on stage. There are a lot of contrasts here.
COSTUME: It is normal, but adapted to the play that is performed. Historical and biblical costume.
ATREZZO: They are panels which are moving around the stage according to the performance of scenes.
AMBIENT: It is comfortable, great and surprising. It is funny.
PERSONAL OPINION: From my point of view it is a play that represents a contemporary society. A divided society: good and bad people. Heaven and hell. What is okay and what is wrong. I like very much this play. I think is one of the best plays that I have ever seen.