Image: www.artscentremelbourne.com.au
In 2009 a forgotten scrim (theatrical backdrop) created by the great surrealist painter Salvador Dalí was discovered in the New York Metropolitan Opera House props room. Painted in 1944 for the opera Mad Tristan, it had lain forgotten for over 50 years. Depicting the doomed characters of Tristan and Isolde, the scrim is unmistakably the work of Dalí, a dream-like landscape, filled with his trademark symbols: cracks, ants, crutches and dandelion heads.
Brought to the attention of acclaimed writer-director Daniele Finzi Pasca (Cirque du Soleil’s Corteo) by a European art collector, this Dalí scrim forms the beating heart of Compagnia Finzi Pasca’s latest work, La Verità (The Truth).
A theatrical feast of acrobatics, clowning, music, puppets, contortionists and dance, La Verità effortlessly blends beauty with comedy, opening with a chaotic parody of a ballet. Just like a Dalí painting, nothing is ever exactly what it seems – depth, perspective and the laws of physics are seemingly subverted as La Verità constantly peels back the curtains on a show, within a show, within a show. The artists and sets move with a dream-like logic, each act is a series of intricate moving parts transitioning seamlessly to the next.
Like Dalí, Finzi Pasca creates absurd juxtapositions: comedy with contortion, incredible feats of strength with feigned incompetence, surreal stage pictures with clowning and comedic squabbles.
The first act builds towards a truly breathtaking climax, a stunning tableau bringing all the threads of the first half together. The second act is more melancholy and reflective, interweaving the acrobatic displays with stories and ruminations on the meaning of truth.
Compagnia Finzi Pasca have succeeded spectacularly in resurrecting the almost forgotten Dalí masterpiece, La Verità brings a beautiful dream to life.
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
La Verità
Written and directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca
Arts Centre Melbourne
21-23 January 2016
