Veronica Hortigüela and Annie Luján anchor Tarragon Theatre’s audience-driven clown show with disciplined physical performances.
In Monks, staged in Tarragon Theatre’s intimate Extraspace, two medieval brothers live in isolation on a hilltop. When the abbot ventures into town, they invite a wagonload of strangers – the audience – into the monastery. The visitors are the monks’ first in five years, interrupting a routine that includes counting lentils, caring for a donkey and trying to keep the building from collapsing.
Recurring fragments of “Fa la la” shift with the action, suggesting contentment at one moment and contemplation at the next. Does it become repetitive and a tad annoying to hear again and again? Perhaps, but in the grand scheme of the buffoonery, it’s all part of the joy of watching.
Tarragon describes the production as “unbridled chaos,” an apt phrase for an hour-long participatory comedy built on physical gags, improvised exchanges and escalating disorder. Audience members may be handed props or drawn into the action, making participation central to the show’s clowning. Hortigüela and Luján commit fully to the premise, including an extended sequence of comic variations on the word “ass.”
The performance also demonstrates the physical demands of clowning. Hortigüela and Luján handle the action alongside the production’s minimal wooden set pieces, ecclesiastical music, brown robes and skullcaps. The repeated loss and recovery of the caps becomes a running visual joke, as does Luján’s unreliable moustache. Their timing depends on close attention to one another: pauses, interruptions and recoveries are coordinated while remaining responsive to the audience’s laughter. That balance gives the apparent disorder a clear underlying structure.
The performers repeatedly race up and down the centre stairs of the Extraspace, using the entire room and keeping spectators aware of their place within the event. Although the pace is strenuous, Hortigüela and Luján rarely appear winded. Their sustained commitment gives credibility to the show’s absurdity, while ribald humour and sexual innuendo broaden its comic range.
The front row is particularly exposed to interaction. At the opening-night performance, Luján directed suggestive looks toward me and responded after being shown a notebook of theatre notes. When Hortigüela asked what she was doing, Luján replied:
“Making sure the critic gives us a great review.”
The line captured the production’s playful awareness of both its audience and me.
Running time: Approximately one hour, with no intermission.
The production runs until Nov. 15 at Tarragon Theatre’s Extraspace, 30 Bridgman Ave., Toronto. Tickets are available at tarragontheatre.com or by calling 416-531-1827.
TARRAGON THEATRE presents
Monks
Created and directed by Veronica Hortigüela and Annie Luján
Set, costumes, sound and props by Veronica Hortigüela and Annie Luján
Lighting designer: Chris Malkowski
Stage manager: Dylan Tate-Howarth
