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Quantum Theater brings the unlikely combination of heartache, longing and flamenco dancing… Quantum Theater brings the unlikely combination of heartache, longing and flamenco dancing together in its latest production, ‘Yerma.’

Federico Garcia Lorca’s play, ‘Yerma,’ is a heart-wrenching piece that explores all the work’s wistful nuances.

‘The play is primarily about longing or a primal ache for something you cannot have and then what do you do about that,’ said director Melanie Dreyer.

The show will be performed April 2 to 26 at 6000 Penn Ave.

The play tells the story of a woman named Yerma who desperately wants a child of her own but, for reasons that are only hinted at, she is never able to conceive.

Throughout the play, she aches for a life that she almost had, that her Spanish honor stops her from pursuing. The play shows her over time as her devastation over childlessness increases and cuts her deeper with every year.

‘I think the themes are so astonishingly universal. We marry people we don’t love, we long to be parents or we long for anything. We long for things that are unobtainable. The reason I think the play is great is that it’s about the human need for things that are unobtainable and the deep, deep desire that is just so unobtainable that it drives you mad,’ said Dreyer.

Quantum Theater, known for its experimentation, took Lorca’s play and added several of its own elements to create a show with the company’s unique imprint.

Rather than holding its shows on a traditional stage, Quantum Theater is known for performing in unconventional venues. Originally, Dreyer hoped to use a stable, but after it was clear that the facilities would be inadequate because of a lack of heating and bathrooms, the company decided to use an old bank building, where it constructed its ideal stage for the show. It’s a theater-in-the-round with huge canvases creating a cocoon-like effect around the audience.

Carolina Loyola-Garcia designed video images that play on the canvases. The artistic images complement the action of the show without being overpowering or detracting attention from the cast.

‘They evoke the natural world. This is such a rural setting. So the fields of sheep, a lot of water imagery, the forest, the barren desert and all these things are part of the images of the play and the media focuses on these images. You see them in a pretty compelling way,’ said the artistic director, Karla Boos.

The addition of flamenco dancing is one that comes somewhat naturally to Lorca’s play. Cihtli Ocampo, the dancer, and Ethan Margolis, the singer and musician of Arte y Pureza Flamenco Company, provide the flamenco portion of the show that mingles with the plot.

Ocampo parallels Yerma’s quiet yearning with her bold and impassioned flamenco steps. Ocampo’s stunning dancing represents the thought not spoken, the action not done, all the wilder inner workings of Yerma’s character.

‘She’s repressed, she can’t have this child, and the community is watching all the time, and she’s full of this life force that can’t come out, and the flamenco is perfect to access that,’ said Boos.

Stylistically, the flamenco is very pure and gypsy-like in nature. What makes it such an interesting element in the show is its improvisational nature. The dance and music in the play showcase different styles of flamenco, but the artists don’t plan exactly what parts of songs or steps they will be using that night, it comes in the moment.

‘The essence of flamenco is a very improvised feel to keep it alive. The more choreographed it is, the less alive it is. The more you know what’s coming, the less it’s alive,’ said Margolis.

Margolis’ musical additions work beautifully to underscore Yerma’s heartache. His wavering and melancholy voice perfectly captures the profound sadness of the play. Through the music, he heightens the gloom, for example, by using a nana, or lullaby, to start the show.

‘It’s fitting that a show about having a baby starts with a nana. It’s really kind of wistful and almost sad,’ said Margolis.

One other thing that makes this show different from many others is that it revolves around Andaluc’iacute;an culture.

Quantum used about five different translations patched together to create a script it felt did the show justice. It’s primarily in English, punctuated by a few Spanish phrases that remind the audience that this all takes place in Spain.

‘I would be happy if the audience takes away a knowledge of southern Spain, which includes flamenco, which includes Lorca, which includes the culture. I believe in international awareness, so I think it’s priceless for people to be exposed to specific foreign settings,’ said Margolis.

Even though the culture is different. ‘Yerma’ is a show with a story and elements that will capture any audience.

‘I think [the audience will] find their own identification with longing. I think they’ll be mesmerized and enchanted with all the components of telling the story,’ said Dreyer.

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