Drama - Como Agua para Chocolate

Como Agua Para Chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate) has received magnificent reviews and will run for two nights only at the Gardner Arts Centre this week. ‘The Stage’ notes that it ‘burns with a passion that threatens to set fire to the stage’ - it is very sexy, funny and magical. Based on Laura Esquivel’s best selling novel (she also wrote the screenplay for the highly acclaimed film version) it tells the story of Tita, who is forbidden to ever marry because of an old family tradition, yet falls in love with Pedro, who marries her sister in a bid to get close to her. Full of magical mischief, the play explores the way in which Tita’s emotions infuse her food - when her tears fall into the wedding cake, everyone who eats it mourns their own lost loves; when she serves quail in rose petal sauce the meal is infused with sexual longing and acts as an aphrodisiac to all who eat it. This tale of unrequited love and bittersweet longing is set against the backdrop of revolutionary Mexico in 1910 and is performed almost entirely in Spanish.

The Theatre Sans Frontieres is committed to performing all of their plays in their original language (they also perform in English, French and German - depending on the play). But if Spanish is not your forte, worry not as this play is very physical, vibrant and visually driven - with the use of masks, a silent-movie sequence, puppets, props and music - all of which aid your understanding of this magnificent play. KA