Theatre tangos through woman’s life

From outside, the now-defunct YMCA in East Liberty looks like another piece of empty real estate. But behind its grimy facade, a very kinetic spectacle takes shape. “María de Buenos Aires,” by Ástor Piazzolla with a libretto by Horacio Ferrer and video by Joe Seamans

Quantum Theatre Production

Friday through April 17; Wednesday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 7 p.m.

The old YMCA in East Liberty, 120 S. Whitfield St.

Tickets $30-$45, $16 for students (limited number)

quantumtheatre.com or ShowClix

From outside, the now-defunct YMCA in East Liberty looks like another piece of empty real estate. But behind its grimy facade, a very kinetic spectacle takes shape.

After entering the unmarked building from Whitfield Street, crossing a gloomy foyer and ascending stairs that go past a low-lit, dust-caked gymnasium, one is suddenly in an Argentinian speakeasy.

This is the set of Quantum Theatre’s latest show, a production of Argentinian composer Ástor Piazzolla’s 1968 tango-opera, “María De Buenos Aires.”

Quantum is staging the piece in collaboration with Attack Theatre and a number of local artists. Opening night is Friday.

Karla Boos, Quantum’s artistic director and the stage director of “María,” said the show “takes the audience on an amazing journey through the evolution of the tango as an art form.”

And that is what the show adds up to figuratively. Narratively, it is the story of María, played by Argentinian mezzo-soprano Raquel Winnica. Winnica’s character dances and sings her way through the phases of her life, from the suburbs of Buenos Aires where she is raised by immigrant parents, to the city’s brothels, where Boos said “she is degraded, dies a horrible death and is reborn.”

Boos stressed that María personifies the tango: its multiethnic roots, its sensuality and its liberating potential. These aspects, more than the play’s narrative, are the attractions of the show.

“The plot itself is an ephemeral kind of thing. You have to embrace this very wild, hallucinogenic poetry and just let yourself be immersed in the experience of it,” Boos added.

Michele de la Reza, co-director of Attack Theatre as well as a choreographer and a dancer for “Maria,” talked about immersion as well, emphasizing the unconventional set as an integral part of creating the stimulating experience that the cast and crew aim for.

“It’s far from your traditional dance space. There’s so much that we’re choreographing on 4-foot wide platforms, small ovals — even ramps. One of our goals was to build this set for this space rather than imposing it, so we asked ourselves what the oddities of the space offer us,” de la Reza said.

Tony Ferrieri, the show’s set designer, recognized right away that a conventional proscenium stage would not suit the show, so he has constructed platforms that cross the space at odd angles, dividing the audience into small groups that experience the dancing from many vantage points. Each of these groups will sit at candle-lit cabaret tables draped in black fabric, completing the bar atmosphere.

“Because the play is about this nonlinear journey, that inspired the configuration of the set, with its zigzagging platforming. The larger, round platforms represent key moments in Maria’s life,” Ferrieri said.

Boos added that the intersecting platforms are “an approximation of the winding streets of Buenos Aires.”

In addition to moving through space, the show charts a winding course through the history of music. De la Reza said that “there’s a trajectory that brings the piece through various styles, from the Argentinian milonga through jazz influences through French classical influences.”

All of this cultural mixing is first and foremost the work of Piazzolla, whose composition will be brought to life by Music Director Andres Cladera and an ensemble of eight musicians, including bandoneónists and string players.

But for all of its borrowings, the cast and crew maintain that “María” is a quintessentially Argentinian work, hence their decision to keep the lyrics entirely in Spanish.

This is where Joe Seamans comes in. Seamans, a local video artist who has produced many PBS programs on science, has created a film that will complement Piazzolla’s music with English supertitles and further visual stimulation.

Taken together, the live ensemble, dancing and video will be something of a sensual overload, but this is precisely what the show’s creators want.

“We’ve really done our job if people almost have to debrief after the show,” de la Reza said.

“María” is Quantum’s second production in the Penn Avenue Corridor. Boos said the company intends to come back for a third as part of an ongoing community outreach project.

“We’ve come to feel that we have an impact on wherever we are for the time that we’re there,” she said.

Boos hopes that the show will reintroduce Pittsburghers to the Corridor, and help revitalize the neighborhood in the process.