newjerseynewsroom.com

BY STUART DUNCAN

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

N.J. THEATER REVIEW

It's going to be very hard to describe "Aurelia's Oratorio" which is playing at Princeton's McCarter Theatre. It's definitely theater, but it's not as play — in fact there is no dialogue and it has no plot. Rather it is a combination of circus, magic illusion, dance and perhaps a bit of vaudeville. All entwined with backstage lighting prowess and some husky bodies on the fly ropes.

Perhaps the place to start is with a short program note to how the piece was conceived: "we started with a book of medieval drawings that show the world upside down and everything inverted." And then the description goes on to specify: "A man carrying a horse; a master carrying a servant."

And that, more or less, is the explanation. Now, you put that concept into the hands (and minds) of Aurelia Thierree, a French woman who has been brought up and trained in surreal circus techniques and Jaime Martinez, Puerto Rican born and a superb dancer. And then you bring in Victoria Thierree Chaplin to direct and design the evening. And, oh yes, the Chaplin name comes honestly — she is the daughter of Charlie Chaplin (and Aurelia is the great grand-daughter of Eugene O'Neill.)

Not all of the 70-minute evening is enthralling. Some may indeed find parts childish; all may find some of the evening less than exciting. With such a concept there are bound to be flights of fancy that don't work as intended. But the piece has been on tour for five years now and Princeton is just the latest stop. And any show in which the front curtain takes on a character of its own, is one that demands attention.

"Aurelia's Oratorio" continues at McCarter Theatre in Princeton through Oct. 17. It plays Fridays at 8 p.m. Suns. At 2 p.m. Call (609) 258-2787.

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