Theater Review: Inquisition Tale ‘Marrano’ at the Physical Theater Festival, July 14-15, 2023

Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 14, 2023 - 7:01am

CHICAGO – The Physical Theater Festival in Chicago has one more weekend, and for two of those nights the fest showcases “Marrano A Tale from The Inquisition,” a joint international stage presentation from Israel and Spain. For tickets and info, click PHYSICAL FEST.

HollywoodChicago.com Comedy/Tragedy Rating: 5.0/5.0

Play Rating: 5.0/5.0

The Spanish Inquisition lasted an astounding 344 years (1478-1834) as a smokescreen for the authoritarian monarchy. Jews and Muslims were forced to convert to Catholicism to survive, and still were targeted by the law (and executed) as “heretics.” The staging of “Marrano A Tale from The Inquisition” is a focused story of the era which encompasses the definition of the Inquisition, as a Jewish shoemaker experiences all levels of the persecution, and ultimately seeks revenge.

Marrano A Tale of the Inquisition
Photo credit: PhysicalFestival.com

La Percha Teatro, a Spanish and Israeli company, uses the power of physical theater to create a vivid portrait of harassment, bigotry and genocide. The five person group takes on many roles, and expresses action through on-stage sound effects (that they operate) and choreographed movements. What is astounding is that they’re able to create the incidences with minimal costuming and props … the switching of roles and the storytelling is expressed from the souls of the very talented actors.

Chicago’s Physical Theater Festival is an annual contemporary, visual, and physical stage festival that presents new forms of theater that are being performed around the world. Their goal is to present work that pursues storytelling through primarily physical means, to create original stories which start and end with the body as the foundational textual source. Celebrating its 10th edition, the festival was co-founded and is co-directed by Alice Da Cunha (click for interview) and Marc Frost.

Trailer, Physical Theater Festival Chicago …

The 10th Physical Theater Festival Chicago will take place from July 8th-16th, 2023, in various city theaters and locations. For complete information on the Festival, click here.