Asmodai, Aquitània Teatre Barcelona
Written by Laura for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review.
Ritxi and Biel, a couple deeply in love despite their differences, decide to spend the night at Biel's family home, rumored to be haunted by Asmodai, the prince of demons. Biel firmly believes he exists, because his grandmother saw him as a child and has been traumatized ever since. What starts as a seemingly ordinary night transforms into a terrifying experience, complete with a Ouija session!
Jaume Casals and Àlex Ferré delivered outstanding performances as Ritxi and Biel. The characters were distinctly portrayed, with each actor highlighting aspects of their personalities to deliver very different comedic performances. Their chemistry was outstanding, and the addition of Meritxell Duró as the grandmother added an extra layer to their dynamic.
This is a small format show, so we only ever see the characters in a single bedroom. Having said that, the set was very well constructed, it truly looked like a typical old house, complete with a creepy porcelain doll, as should be.
The play, labelled as ‘comedy horror’, unfortunately failed to scare me, so I would have liked it if they had played that up a bit more. Having said that, the play compensated this with a kind of ‘is it real or not?’ suspense that I found very entertaining.
I was surprised to see that the script had softer, deeper themes to it, touching on issues of homophobia and intergenerational trauma. I found this to be one of the most interesting parts of the show.
Asmodai is a solid, entertaining production, skillfully brought to life by three talented artists. I would love to see this show in a bigger theatre, or even on the West End!
Catch it at Aquitània Teatre until March 17th.
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
