Las Variaciones Goldberg
By Teatres de la Generalitat Valenciana and CRC
1st December. Rialto Theatre, Valencia
Characters:
Mr. Jota: he is the drama director, so he is always ticking everyone to do things perfectly because he wants his play to go perfect. Sometimes he acts in a paternalistic way and other times he is very cruel, punishing his actors for any mistake and shouting at them. He is a grown up man, who wants to be loved by the actresses he like and when he realize they don’t, he rejects them. He pretends to control Goldberg the way he wants as a child but he can’t.
Goldberg: He is his Jewish assistant. At the beginning he follows Mr. Jota’s orders and indications, even the most extravagant; but as the time goes by, his patience diminishes and he realizes about the director’s mistakes and wrong actions, so hi tries to correct his mistakes and ends rebelling against the whole production.
Ramamah, Masch and Jafet: they are the main male actors in the performance that Mr. Jota wants to show. They try hard to do exactly want Mr. Jota demands from them, but they consider it is too difficult o even impossible. They love the ‘comfort-living’ and the pleasures so they have fun whenever they can and during the rehearsals.
Mari: She is the clearing-girl, always complaining about the mess which she has to clean, always on her knees. She is a very sensitive woman who feels compassion for Goldberg.
Ernestina Van Veen: she is and independent modern woman, who woks for Mr. Jota helping him with the production aspects.
Teresa Tormentina: She is the main actress of Mr. Jota’s play and she knows how important she is for the play, for that reason she behaves like a Diva.
Space:
We are supposed to be attending to the rehearsals and the prelude of a play performance. So the space is a theatre itself, with alls its elements reflected in the play like the back-stairs, the decoration, etc..
Lights:
Lights illuminated the whole scenario and some times we had light effects which belong to the hypothetical performance of the plot; for example when God talks to Adan or when there were dances or orgies. The absence of light also was the element used to let the actors disappear and appear suddenly all along the play.
Clothing:
Their clothes meant to be understood as theatre clothing because they were trying to prepare a play, so as the play represented biblical passages, their clothes were of that kind. Mr. Jota and Goldberg were dressed with actual outfits, adequate for their jobs.
Decoration elements:
At the beginning, the absence of decoration was the decoration itself; later they used constant elements like a table and a chair, a lamp over the table, Mari’s mop and bucket, the bed and teddy bears, crosses, flags, etc… Simple elements which sometimes were used several times like the two-face backgrounds.
Audience reaction or incidents:
During the performance, the audience paid attention to the play, and seem to be connected with the idea that the director tried to transmit; and at the end, everyone reacted as with a big ovation, and applauding for a long time.
Personal point of view:
“Llevar la Biblia a escena. Éste es el titánico propósito de Mr. Jota, (¿Jota por Jehová?…) (Jose Maria Mestres: Las Variaciones Goldberg pamphlet)
The comparison between God and a Theatre director shows us how comparable are the ideas of a theatre play performance and human life on earth. This is a great play which reflects ‘humanity’ in so many levels that it really keeps us thinking about transcendental aspects when we go out of the theatre.
Academic year 2005/2006
© a.r.e.a./Dr.Vicente Forés López
© Ivonne Pamela Landázuri
ilanbe@alumni.uv.es
Universitat de València Press