Folklorica at The Drayton Arms Theatre Review
Written by Eloise Thody for Theatre & Tonic
A well-paced one-hour fairytale story exploring themes of immigration, family, and womanhood. The story follows Mira (Nicole Schretlen Montes), a young woman who works in a local factory. When the creepy boss impregnates her, she must decide what to do. During this journey, she ends up in a fantastical purgatory where she is greeted by Goddesses and demons. The journey Mira goes on makes her ultimately stronger when she emerges back into her real life.
The most interesting part of the story comes when Mira goes into this fantastical liminal space - full of Latinx culture, songs and dance. The wonderful skirts swirling and creating beautiful stage images – the ensemble of women creating striking and powerful moments on stage. A magnetic, enticing and powerful dance performed by Mira, played by Nicole Schretlen Montes, was a particular highlight, giving a unique approach to Eurydice walking through purgatory, not able to turn back. The actors each took their roles with heart and presence, making each character believable and lovable. Grecia De La Paz as Gloria lit up on stage as the powerful Feminist voice - playing the comical moments brilliantly and creating plenty of laughs for the audience. And Solal Vergara Costantini as Richard, the villain of the piece, did wonderfully to mix charm and malevolence – making the audience want to boo him during the bows!
The story is simplistic and easy to follow, throwing us straight into the action. The characters are developed from archetypes and therefore, we understand from the start the structure the story will follow. The writing is clangy in parts, not syncing into the flow of the story. The actors do the best they can to make these moments feel natural - and honestly, they saved this piece from falling into an oversimplification of an immigrant experience. There is definitely a feeling of melodrama, and even pantomime about Folklorica - sometimes not appropriate for the seriousness of the themes presented.
The story lacked a specific time and place - so is best viewed as a fairytale in a faraway land - despite the current social and political commentary. The actors did well with a script which was underdeveloped, stereotypical, and lacking colour. The main themes explored are important, and having an all-Latinx cast telling this story was wonderful to see on stage. The script just needs work to really enable the audience to feel a deeper connection to the characters and allow the audience to connect the dots - rather than giving Scooby Doo style reveals.
Folklorica contains reference to sexual assault and abortion, and has now completed its run at The Drayton Arms Theatre, as of the 20th September 2025.
★★★
