Smiley
Written by Guillem Clua
Directed by Ismanuel Rodriguez
Repertorio Español
June 28, 2019
Production website
💉💉💉 out of 5.

I was a bit worried when I bought tickets to Repertorio  Espanol’s production of Smiley.  After all, it was all in Spanish and beyond a few niceties, Spanish is all Greek to me.  Two things swayed my opinion though.  They offered live subtitles above the proscenium, much like an Italian opera AND the play was brought out in the press as one of  the most interesting offerings for World Pride Month.  I took a chance and  went.  It was so damn fun and interesting. 

Granted at the top of the show, which began with some racing fast monologues between our two lovers, I had trouble watching both them and the English some 20 feet above them.  I thought this would make for a LONG night.  But it didn’t.  Soon they moved away from monologues and started playing some wonderful intimate sheds.  Here, I didn’t need  but a few worlds every few minutes or so  to keep up.  I tell my long actors all the time that if the play works, the language is only needed name the moment.  It is not the MOMENT.  These actors made it see easy for me to follow.  They acted well!

What I loved about the play itself was its unapologetic, romantic energy.  It had a sense of humor and allowed two very charismatic actors to simply do their work at flirting and catching and avoiding and trapping and loving each other.  The sound of the language became a kind of music for me.  It underscored the play.  The language difference also allowed for me to look at some of the cliche  gay encounters in a new light and really experience what was happening.  It took a risk and it worked!