With El Baile, Repertorio Espanol turns from Cuban playwright Abelardo Estorino's exploration of historical themes to a contemporary setting, but one where the past actively weaves its way into the present. Nina is considering selling her pearl necklace to make ends meet until she can leave Cuba to join her married children in Miami. This necklace can bring her some valuable dollars but with it would go her most cherished memories. As played by Adria Santana, Nina is far from drifting into a state of reverie. She yells at the telephone for being out of order and preventing her from asking her son's advice. As she rummages through old photos, she conjures up two men that continue ever-present in her life. Her deceased husband Conrado (Ricardo Barber) is still around to berate her over never having loved him during their marriage of twenty-five years. A bitter, self-made entrepreneur, he would take the practical route and sell the necklace. Also lurking in the shadows of the rambling, empty house is her young lover Fabrizio (Juan Sebastian Aragon), whom she met one night at a dance when she was 15. He is the romantic, a politically-active painter she knew briefly before he fled from the Cuban dictatorship of the 1940s to New York. Fabrizio tells her it is better to dream than to eat, and he nearly comes to blows with the jealous Conrado, incensed at seeing the two waltz about the room. Nina's choice is in doubt until the very end.
Adria Santana offers her customary full-out performance but with a deep emotional impact because of Estorino's moving script. She is better at suggesting the older Nina than the young debutante. Ricardo Barber's character is less well developed, which is perhaps why, under Estorino's direction, he focuses mostly on Conrado's anger. Juan Sebastian Aragon catches young charmer Fabrizio's sensuality and detachment. The set, by Ismael Gomez, is among the most suggestive in Repertorio Espanol's current lineup, and Robert Weber Federico's lighting design achieves magic and mystery.
Estorino's excellent Parece Blanca is also in repertory this winter as part of the company's CubaTeatro project.
