Edinburgh Fringe 2024
Comala, Comala
Pulpo Arts
Genre: Adaptation, Drama, Music, Musical Theatre, Theatre
Venue: ZOO Southside
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Comala, Comala takes on the titanic task of adapting Juan Rulfo’s 1955 novel Pedro Páramo, not only into a play but a musical. The music by Pablo Chemor is original, intricate, emotional and elevates the storytelling. The performers are unbelievable, skilled at instruments, singing and acting.
Review
Comala, Comala takes on the titanic task of adapting Juan Rulfo’s 1955 novel Pedro Páramo, not only into a play but a musical. The iconic book is both magical realism and revolutionary novel for his treatment of the Cristera war (Christian war). It blends different narrators, writing styles and timelines, and has often been considered one of the most complex Latin American classics, highly depending on the reader’s interpretation. Pedro Páramo deals with themes of death, power, family and politics, highlighting a variety of longstanding issues in the region.
As you enter the Studio at ZOO Southside different sized leather covered drums plague the room, some resembling tables and other benches. A plethora of items are on top of these: an incredible number of candles, scarfs, books and instruments. Intrigue ensues, what music will be created by the combination of a fiddle, a harmonica, a trumpet and a quijada de burro? The latter is an incredible Afrolatino instrument, donkey’s jawbone in English.
The eight performers enter, all dressed in white with different variations to their outfits, and sit on the smaller drums. They start with a fabulous, ominous and nostalgic song, as if they were to introduce a wake or a funeral. Only lit by candle light and warm yellow light coming from the drums the ambience feels like a seance. Afterwards and in English they quickly give out the characters to the performers, showing their excitement or disappointment produced by the naming of each character. The introduction is over and the musical begins in Spanish, where the performers are musicians, singers and actors, switching through multiple characters each. Comala, Comala alternates between scenes and songs, with the clever help of the subtitles to make it clear who is speaking in this complicated multi character piece.
The musical does a fantastic job of adapting Pedro Páramo, it is an experience that needs to be felt and enjoyed more than perfectly understood. Their biggest accomplishment is evoking the feeling of this story, of all the misery some characters produce and others suffer in this town where nobody seems to have a happy ending. Conchi León’s writing is laudable in this ambitious adaptation. The music by Pablo Chemor is original, intricate, emotional and elevates the storytelling. It is Mexican folklore with touches of classical music at times. Most of the songs are heart-wrenching and meaningful, but there are also a couple of playful ones that are very comedic and add some needed levity.
The performers are unbelievable, skilled at instruments, singing and acting. They move seamlessly through the characters, stressing the changes mainly through acting and the help of some props. María Penella Gómez especially stands out as a powerful singer and a mesmerising performer that naturally weaves drama and comedy.
As a Peruvian I am always looking for work by and about Latin Americans at the Fringe. It gave me such pride to see Comala, Comala, which not only showcases a Mexican classic in an incredibly creative and unique way, but also does it at the highest quality of the Fringe. I only regret that the non-native Spanish speakers probably missed snippets of the performance by having to look at the subtitles, such nuanced and rich performers deserve to be watched intently. I commend the Fringe and ZOO for bringing international companies that tell stories that are so rare in the UK. Comala, Comala was supported by TV Azteca, one of the biggest Spanish language media conglomerates in the world, showcasing the financial strain of bringing a production of this quality and size overseas.
Comala, Comala must be seen by Mexicans, Latinos and anybody really. It is a fabulous trip through Pedro Páramo, dreamlike and inviting you to enjoy it or dissect it, to give it one of many interpretations. For me the town of Comala felt like a limbo, where the dead and the living encounter themselves and everything is plagued by misery. The quality of the music, the story, the performances, the set and the light design make this production outstanding, unique and genre defining for Latin musicals and adaptations.
