Pedro Páramo
Written by Raquel Carrío
Directed by Flora Lautén
at Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn (map)
thru March 31 | tickets: $14-$32 | more info
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Influential novel turned soap opera
Teatro Buendía i/a/w Goodman Theatre and MCA Stage presents
Pedro Páramo
Review by Keith Glab
Pedro Páramo is not a nice man. Though he has slept with most of the women of Comala, he only cares for one of them and does not love his father or any of his children. Páramo evolves from chronic debtor to town tyrant – lying, bribing, and murdering his way to the top. Juan Preciado, who is Pedro’s only legitimate son, travels to Comala to meet the father he has never known, but finds the town inhabited mostly by uneasy spirits. These spirits tell Juan the tale of how Pedro Páramo turned Comala into a ghost town.
It is both strange and unfortunate that this production’s interpretation of Rulfo’s story, which is lauded as a seminal example of magic realism, instead pushes into the realm of surrealism and beyond. In magic realism, naturalistic settings and characters get disrupted by something fantastic. But there is nothing naturalistic about this production. The undead characters have faces painted white to indicate them as such, and a long white sheet serves as the primary set piece and prop. The lines are delivered with all the subtlety of a soap opera, often degenerating into indicating rather than acting. It doesn’t help that several soap operaesque plotlines present themselves, including another woman stunt-doubling for Pedro’s wife on their wedding night, a priest convincing a woman that her pregnancy was just a dream, and incest.
The magical realism is better realized with the ebb and flow between past and present, the realm of the living and the realm of the dead. The white makeup on the dead characters may not be subtle or naturalistic, but it does help the audience follow the action. Certainly, there are still moments that get confusing in this nonlinear narrative featuring more than a dozen characters, but that stays true to the Rulfo’s original intent of blending multiple planes of reality.
 
 
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The most successful aspect of this production is the beautiful music that accompanies most of the action. A three-person band comprised of two members of the Chicago-based, Grammy-nominated Sones De Mexico and one Cuban musician play at least a half-dozen different instruments that provide a sense of setting in this otherwise barebones production. The actual songs are less effective, halting the action and adding little to the whole, but there are only a few of them. In contrast to the melodramatic acting, the music doesn’t come across as too syrupy or manipulative.
Pedro Páramo provides a lot of visual interest with the attractive cast’s slow, stylized movements and the interesting use of light and shadow playing against the white sheet. But the over-the-top acting makes the characters in this condensed adaptation of a novel more one-dimensional and less empathetic. When these characters die, it elicits little more than a shrug when they could be powerful moments if the characters were worth investing in. What appears to be the central issue of how these roaming spirits can finally find rest isn’t resolved with much clarity, resulting in a less-than-satisfying theatre experience.
Rating: ★★
Pedro Páramo continues through March 31st at Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn (map), with performances Tuesdays-Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 2pm and 8pm, Sundays 2pm and 7:30pm. Tickets are $14-$32, and are available by phone (312-443-3800) or online through their website (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at GoodmanTheatre.org/PedroParama. (Running time: 95 minutes, no intermission)
Photos by Liz Lauren
artists
cast
Charín Alvarez (Susana San Juan), Steve Casillas (Miguel Páramo, Donis), Laura Crotte (Eduviges), Sandra Delgado (Anita, Eva), Henry Godinez (Pedro Páramo), Dania Aguerreberez (Angeles, Dona Fausta), Alejandro Alfonzo (El Padre Renteria), Ivanesa Cabrera (Dolores), Carlos Cruz (Abundio, Fulgor), Sándor Menéndez (Juan Preciado), Indira Valdes (Damiana)
musicians
Jomary Hechavarría, Victor Pichardo, Zacbe Pichardo
behind the scenes
Flora Lautén (director); Victor Pichardo (music direction); Jomary Hechavarría (music direction); Heather Gilbert (lighting); Briana J. Fahey (production stage manager), Liz Lauren (photos)
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