The Book Of Loco: Rational Madness From The Heart And Mind Of Alirio Zavarce – Review

Space Theatre, Fri 14 Aug The Book Of Loco toils with the theme of “rational madness”, a term Alirio Zavarse has devised to describe the actions of himself and others that from one perspective may be seen as crazy (or loco in Spanish), but from another seen as almost rational. Presented by Windmill Theatre and Adelaide Festival Centre for the show’s third season, the Venezuelan-born Australian Alirio Zavarce and Director Sasha Zahra have reworked The Book Of Loco especially for teenagers and their families with most of the performances almost exclusively for school groups. Although never having seen the previous productions, this one-man show is carried by the charisma and beautiful vulnerability of Zavarce, which is sure to be of interest to people across the age spectrum. It all begins in an airport with curious questioning by a customs officer about a prop in Zavarce’s bag turning into being surrounded by federal police with guns pointed. He then stops the show and the lights come up. Puzzling at first, this stopping and starting ends up being a regular occurrence. Zavarce fleets in and out of acting out past stories and addressing the audience with his thoughts and perspective of others in the world; perspectives he has been writing in his notebooks since 2001 following his divorce and the World Trade Centre attack from a waiting room at a train station. “It all begins and ends in the waiting room”, he concludes. The set, designed by Jonathon Oxlade, is full of boxes, tying in the ideas around travel and migration and allowing an interesting background to project Chris More’s video and graphics. All the technical elements work seamlessly as expected with technical operation by Aaron Herczeg. At times the production can verge on psychotic ramblings distancing the audience, but generally it is heartfelt and stimulating with the audience intrigued about where Zavarse is going next. Go and celebrate the madness within us all. Bobby Goudie The Book Of Loco performs at Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre, at various times until Sat 22 Aug. Book at BASS on 131 246 or bass.net.au. Click HERE to purchase your tickets.