Review: ANDRE & DORINE at Theatre at St. Clement's

The Off-Broadway play Andre & Dorine recently debuted at Theatre at St. Clement's, bringing the magic of Spain's internationally-acclaimed mask and physical theatre company, Kulunka Teatro to New York City.

Performed by Garbiñe Insausti, José Dault, and Edu Cárcamo (who are also three of the writers), the play takes us into the intimate world of an elderly couple and their adult son, as they try grabbling with Dorine's Alzheimer's disease.

The play is completely silent except for Dorine playing her cello or Andre tapping on his typewriter. It is astonishing what the team is able to say without actually saying a word, and they do so effortlessly, weaving back and forth between the present-day and the past, showing the audience how Andre and Dorine first met, the innocence they once shared together and how so much has changed since then.

The set design was also well done with a simple living room space that showed Andre and Dorine in their own corners, far away from one another, annoyed but the other's presence when it was revealed. The masks, made by Garbiñe Insausti, were spectacular and offered a sense of wonder and imagination, and often fright. This is seen perfectly when Dorine doesn't recognize her husband and we the audience also see a different mask covering his face. It was a vivid way to enforce the fear Dorine had felt and it's a shame that wasn't used more throughout the show.

The relationship between Andre and Dorine was interesting. The most relatable was when they were older and annoyed by one another. During their younger years, it appeared to only be about Andre and his success as a writer while Dorine, the concert cellist, received barely any recognition for her talents. There is a sense of misogyny here and stereotypical gender roles. It's seen greatly when Dorine carries their luggage into the home while pregnant and Andre looks off the other way. We also saw this with Dorine and Andre's son. While he tried caring for his mother, taking her to her doctor's appointments and continuously checking in on her, for the most part, he seemed consumed in his love life, or lack thereof, and was more interested in the nurse caring for his mother than anything else.

As the couple gets older, Andre is still obsessed with himself and his career, appearing annoyed with Dorine even as she starts to decline. He eventually shows tenderness toward his wife, which was lovely to see, and quite moving, but came at a time when it was already hard to like him, which ultimately made these sweet moments not as powerful as desired.

Andre & Dorine runs from now until May 29th at Theatre at St. Clement's.

(Photo courtesy of Andre & Sorine and Aitor Audicana)

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