Seen at Teatro Ibérico on the 19th of May 2024

5 Stars – Netflix on stage

A girl is recruited from a firm to be an actress in someone else’s life. A mother can’t stand the loss of her third child and hires someone to play her. The girl thus becomes Leonor and acquires an elder brother and sister who struggle to accept her. A dissonating note persists, and it rings louder when the refrain starts: ‘it’s only two days left’.

After a long-ish video introduction, the play takes off. The scenography takes us to the family’s house, it appears minimalistic and is very functional to the whole show. As we delve deeper into the family’s life, the accumulation of ‘weird’ elements gives way to unsettling atmospheres and scenes, while the mother starts showing signs of grave mental illness.

The perfectly clocked scenes contribute to the illusion and the magic of the show. Rita Rocha Silva’s interpretation of Leonor is carried out incredibly well, also considering that this is a two-and-a-half-hour show. Her mother, interpreted by Inês Vaz, is a pillar for the whole play, and the rest of the cast, Pedro Baptista, Mariana Guarda, Mariana Pacheco, and Cleo Diára, each shines in different moments.

This brilliant new play by Mário Coelho is astonishing. In the good sense, and sometimes in the bad one, which also works. A few narrative threads hang loose, which contribute to the confusion of feelings and add some difficulty to the interpretation. I have never seen such an audience reaction: everybody came out of the theatre in shock, wide-eyed, wondering what it was they had just seen.

Running time: 2.30 hours

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