Aurelia’s Oratorio at Berkeley Rep A Fantasy in Rouge et Noir

Starring Aurélia Thierrée, a granddaughter of a mime and comic genius of all times Charlie Chaplin, Berkeley Rep just unwrapped this unusual and poignant holiday gift for its audiences as only a notorious forerunner of a contemporary theatre could do. Devoid of big effects and usually associated with a holiday season ostentatious grandiosity, Aurelia’s Oratorio is a very European, very French, intimate fantasy, as if culled from Magritte, Kahlo and Dali’s paintings – a clear stream of consciousness, or rather, subconsciousness otherwise attainable only in a dream. A petit ingénue with a round-eyed naïve cuteness written all over her face, arrives from a chest drawer, pulls in, out, and apart her every limb, levitates on a red velvet swing, and gets lost and found in pieces of cloths, all with the minds and characters of their own. Her stage partner, Jaime Martinez fights with a mean coat, climbs a curtain like a fly, and performs a perfect tango with all the figures by splitting himself in the middle – it takes two to tango! There are also other performers in the pantomime, like a motley crew of puppets – some scarily limber, just like another life form of alien humans… Altogether, the 70-minute show is a non-stop and utmost delight. It was conceived and directed by Aurelia’s mother, Victoria Thierrée Chaplin. Along with her husband, Jean Baptiste Thierrée she, one of Charlie Chaplin’s many talented children, created Cirque Bonjour, Cirque Imaginaire, and Cirque Invisible that allegedly inspired the world famous Cirque du Soleil. Aurelia’s Oratorio runs in the Berkeley Rep Roda Theatre through January 24. To brighten the holiday mood even more, on select evenings the theatre offers free tastings one hour before curtain from renowned wineries: Artesa (Friday, December 18; Sunday, December 20; Friday, January 8, Saturday, January 9; and Sunday, January 10) and Kokomo Wines (Saturday, December 19). The Roda Theatre is located at 2015 Addison Street, Berkeley. For tickets or more information, call (510) 647-2949 or toll-free at (888) 4-BRT-Tix or visit berkeleyrep.org. Image by Richard Haughton, courtesy of Berkeley Rep.