Review: GARBO: THE ACTOR WHO SAVED THE WORLD at GALA Hispanic Theatre

The world premiere production kicking off the 51st season at GALA Hispanic Theatre, “GARBO: The Actor Who Saved the World,” is not, it turns out, about Greta at all. Rather, it’s about somebody else far fewer people have heard of, who was working roughly the same time — World War II to be specific. 

Juan Pujul was a failed actor in his native Catalonia, just as Hitler was a failed painter from Vienna. In his case, he wanted to use his theatrical skills to help take down Hitler’s regime by offering himself as a double agent for the Allies. The English weren’t interested, and neither were the Americans, but he did such a remarkable job feeding false information to the Germans based on some nugget of truth, he became one of their most valued agents. Eventually the Allies caught on and with the encouragement of Gen. Eisenhower, he successfully diverted German troops away from Normandy in order to help make D-Day a success.

It’s quite a remarkable and under-told chapter in the war. But what’s it doing at the city’s leading Spanish-language theater? Well, the story begins in Venezuela 36 years later, where Pujul has been living and raising a family under a different name, never telling any of them his exploits.

When the British empire comes calling to invite him to the 40th anniversary of the D-Day victory, where he’ll get an Order of the British Empire, he’s forced to tell the tale to his grandchildren who heretofore thought him a dull grandpa. 

Such is the framing of the new play by Gustavo Ott, the Venezuelan-born artistic director of GALA Hispanic Theatre. Because most of us are as unaware of the story as his grandchildren, it’s a good way to explain it all. And while some other retelling might be dry in its conveying of troop strength and positions from one side to another, this play crackles with life, with no lack of underlying humor and several pauses to consider the importance of artistry and creativity in all endeavors — its imagination can help save the world, as it did for of Garbo — which was the double agent’s eventual code name in honor of his acting skills.

But it wasn’t just acting. He could also come up with names biographies and detailed lists of quirks for whole sets of spies and informants working under him (the Germans sent him money to pay the growing imaginary staff as well). 

Kevin Jorges, an award-winning Venezuelan actor who lives in Madrid, is splendid in the title role, spinning out his imaginative lies that the Germans ate right up. Spanish film actor Clara Navarro is a delight as his partner, helping create an entertaining back-and-forth throughout. Like the rest of the cast of six, she has multiple roles to cover.

Venezuelan-American actor Carlos Castillo is a standout as both a father Pujol looked up to, and especially as MI5 intelligence officer Thomas Harris who worked and drank with Pujol and showed that he, too, was once an artist too (another detail in Ott’s play that is true to history as well). 

While Puerto Rican actor Geovanni Felicier cuts a credible figure of Hitler in a brief scene, the busy Venezuelan actor Mauricio Gómez Amoretti, who plays his German contact, is also the least convincing Eisenhower on stage (did they ever look up a picture of the guy?). 

But perhaps appearances aren’t the most important thing in the play, directed with verve by Cuban director Carlos Celdrán: Indeed, if one gives up the suspension of disbelief required in theater it doesn’t matter that, say, the only difference between Jorges’ appearance as an old man and a young spy is removing a sweater, “Mister Rogers” style. 

GALA can usually be counted upon for elaborate staging, but here the setting by Jessica Alexandra Cancino is so stark you might mistake it at first for a one man show. In actuality, it works quite well shifting from South American hideout to Allied war room with the movement of a couple of tables. The white curtains in the back are used effectively by Luis García for large projections of war scenes — including those inflatable tanks meant to sidetrack Nazi troops, part of a diversionary tactic also borne of the theater: Sets! Paint! Stagecraft! Illusion! 

“GARBO” is also enhanced by an original score by sound designer Koki Lortkipanidze, a notable, spiky abstraction that delivers even if it’s pre-recorded. 

The remarkable story, paired with the lively presentation, make “GARBO: The Actor Who Saved the World” a strong start to GALA’s historic 51st season just as it’s a clarion call for artistic creativity in the act of everyday life -- and in fighting forces of creeping authoritarianism. 

Running time: About 100 minutes, with one 10-minute intermission. 

Photo credit: Clara Navarro and Kevin Jorges in “GARBO: The Actor Who Saved the World.” Photo by Daniel Martinez

 “GARBO: The Actor Who Saved the World,” presented in Spanish with English subtitles, continues through Sept. 27 at GALA Hispanic Theatre, 3333 14th St. NW. Tickets available at 202-234-7174 or online. 

More on GALA Hispanic Theatre

Upcoming Shows

GARBO: EL ACTOR QUE SAVÓ AL MUNDO (Garbo: The Actor Who Saved The World)

9/3 - 9/27/2026

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