{"id":305987,"date":"2018-11-08T21:39:57","date_gmt":"2018-11-09T02:39:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/?p=305987"},"modified":"2018-11-08T21:39:57","modified_gmt":"2018-11-09T02:39:57","slug":"review-forgive-us-gustavito-at-charm-city-fringe-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2018\/11\/08\/review-forgive-us-gustavito-at-charm-city-fringe-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: ‘Forgive Us, Gustavito!’ at Charm City Fringe Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

For a play about a hippo, it\u2019s pretty dark. Forgive Us, Gustavito!<\/a><\/em> is bookended by the primal howling of a grieving animal, as the audience is enveloped in a blackout. This is not to say, however, that this production by Otherland Theatre Ensemble, currently playing at the Charm City Fringe Festival<\/a> in Baltimore, doesn\u2019t have a profound sense of humor. Many audience members, including myself, seemed to have a bit of a permanent smile for the duration of the show, as even the more serious beats brought a sense of collective delight.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This satisfyingly physical production falls into the category of absurdist theater, but it manages to do so while maintaining the structure of a finely crafted noir thriller \u2013 and that dichotomy is what produces some of the more successful aspects of the production. Forgive Us, Gustavito!<\/em> tells the story of a grizzled hippo detective investigating the untimely death of his saintly zoo-bound hippo brother. However, even with a surrounding cast of spider monkeys, gorillas, and other animals,\u00a0Forgive Us, Gustavito!<\/em> is a maelstrom of human emotion, landing upon hard truths about life, death, manipulative relationships, and the neglect of family ties. The show even touches on themes found in modern Sci-Fi productions.<\/p>\n

Devised by Rebecca Finney, Lucius Robinson, and Tushar Mathew, who studied with Dell\u2019Arte International, Forgive Us, Gustavito!<\/em> has many gifts to give. Rebecca Finney shines as Elvira, an overdramatic spider monkey who serves as the show\u2019s femme fatale. It\u2019s not easy to scamper across a stage on all fours while looking glamorous, but it suits her. Tushar Mathew is lovably intense as Detective Emilio Hippo, whose guilt-driven monologues provide much of the emotional heft of the piece. Lucius Robinson is a powerful presence as Toto, a “civilized” gorilla who wears a tie and drinks hand-pressed coffee, and he is genuinely creepy as Mr. D, a shadowy figure who connects all the characters\u2026and knows all their dark secrets.<\/p>\n

The actors rely on voice and physicality to establish their characters as animals \u2013 there are no makeup tricks or rubber appendages. Costumes are appropriate for the genre \u2013 Elvira is adorned with a sheer white top and pleated chiffon pants that the light shines through beautifully, giving her the appearance of a sentient French marionette, and Detective Hippo is dressed in a trench coat and fedora, complete with padded stomach. The soundtrack is well chosen, and includes a few perfectly slow saxophone solos. The set is sparse \u2013 just one chair, one desk, and a couple of light poles with clamped-on bulbs.<\/p>\n

This leads me to one of the more brilliant aspects of the piece \u2013 the lighting \u2013 which is more of a team effort, led by Sam Robinson. Along with a few bare bulbs and can lights perched in various places, the lighting is provided by the performers via flashlights and hand-held fixtures. There is spotlighting, backlighting, under lighting, even interrogation lighting, all in the actors\u2019 hands, and sometimes dangerously close to burning their faces \u2013 which makes it all the more exciting.<\/p>\n

Forgive Us, Gustavito!<\/em> is artistic, but it is truly accessible. I might even be able to see older children enjoying it. Much of its playfulness comes from humanizing the animal characters in unique ways. As they recount memories and read snippets of old postcards, adorable details about Gustavito and his friends and family are revealed – drawing the audience in emotionally, even as more ridiculous characters and situations are introduced. It\u2019s hard to add more detail about the plot without adding too much\u2026so the best thing to do is let you unravel the mystery for yourself. This thoughtful and hilarious show will be well worth the trip to Charm City.<\/p>\n

\"Charm<\/p>\n

Forgive Us, Gustavito!<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, presented by Otherland Theatre Ensemble, plays through November 11th, 2018, at Maryland Art Place (MAP) Underground – 218 W Saratoga Street, Baltimore, MD. For tickets, go online<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For a play about a hippo, it\u2019s pretty dark. Forgive Us, Gustavito! is bookended by the primal howling of a grieving animal, as the audience is enveloped in a blackout. This is not to say, however, that this production by Otherland Theatre Ensemble, currently playing at the Charm City Fringe Festival in Baltimore, doesn\u2019t have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":305989,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56974,18],"tags":[53881,56996,56997],"class_list":{"0":"post-305987","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-charm-city-fringe-festival-2018","8":"category-reviews","9":"tag-charm-city-fringe-festival","10":"tag-forgive-us-gustavito","11":"tag-otherland-theatre-ensemble"},"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nReview: 'Forgive Us, Gustavito!' at Charm City Fringe Festival - DC Theater Arts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2018\/11\/08\/review-forgive-us-gustavito-at-charm-city-fringe-festival\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review: 'Forgive Us, Gustavito!' at Charm City Fringe Festival\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For a play about a hippo, it\u2019s pretty dark. 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