Luna Negra Dance Theater: Moniquilla and the Thief of Laughter | Stage review

 

Despite a narrator’s microphone that cut in and out, and a too-shallow stage that made animated projections hard to see (sit in the center section), the first Chicago performance of Moniquilla and the Thief of Laughter was fast-paced, fabulous fun. While Gustavo Ramírez Sansano’s recent choreographies for Luna Negra Dance Theater, where he’s artistic director, have been highly abstract and generally dark, this piece for LNDT’s kids’ initiative, Luna Niños, is often humorous and tells its original, simple story clearly. (The detailed, quicksilver movement at which Ramírez Sansano excels carries over.)

A charmingly retro, low-frame-rate cartoon reminiscent of Really Rosie lays the backstory: Kept from his beloved books by a bitter aunt, Rita, the soul of a young boy, Nico, sours. As an adult, he becomes a chemist and, using an ingenious method of delivery, unleashes a concoction that takes the ability to giggle away from little kids. Moniquilla, a bespectacled overachiever (Mónica Cervantes) and her free-spirited BFF, Matias (Eduardo Zuñiga) launch a mission to find Nico and undo his spell. The loss of their friend Veronica (Stacey Aung) to Nico’s dark side adds urgency to their quest.

Much of the hourlong show is given to dance sequences set to recordings of well-known classical music (uncredited, unfortunately) by Delibes, Prokofiev and other composers. In between, as the onstage narrator, Veronica Guadalupe makes certain that even the smallest audience members understand all of the action (more exposition than big kids and adults will need, but not so much that it kills the show’s breezy momentum). Aung, Cervantes and Zuñiga are three of Luna Negra’s most petite perfomers, which helps us pretend that they’re tykes instead of twentysomethings.

Moniquilla’s only missed opportunity is its lack of a convincingly drawn villain: As Nico, Nigel Campbell doesn’t get to do much more than run around in a cape and mask, half-trying to look scary. There are no echoes in the choreography of the sad source of his evil.

Ingenious set designs by Luis Crespo, built for Moniquilla’s debut in Valencia, Spain (where Ramírez Sansano worked prior to moving to Chicago) provide numerous vivid images; a booby-trapped “Room of Ropes” packs big surprises into an intimate theater at the recently remodeled Stage 773 center in Lakeview. The show’s happy ending, dependent upon help from the entire audience, is truly inspired.

Guadalupe hints at the possibility of a sequel, set in outer space. Catch this first episode while you can.

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Luna Niños’ Moniquilla and the Thief of Laughter repeats on December 4 at 1pm and 4pm.