Four couples of friends meet for dinner. Some have known each other since they were 12 years old… the others have been added over time. Over the years, they have built a solid group, where everyone is transparent, knows each other's virtues and flaws… the dinner unfolds as always, lively, full of laughter, full of camaraderie… Until they decide to play.
If the mobile phone is the little box where we have everything… let's make everything visible. No secrets. We have nothing to hide. The mobile phones are put in a bowl, in the middle of the table. And they decide that all messages will be read, no matter how they arrive. Calls will be put on speakerphone. There is nothing to hide.
"I'd never seen you wear these earrings before"
The moon will hide behind an eclipse. Friendship, perhaps also. In Perfectes desconeguts, the mobile phone game begins with messages and calls that show the friends that no one is what they seem. That everyone wears a mask. That everyone has secrets they need to keep well hidden. The carnage splashes everyone. Meanwhile, the moon begins to disappear. The night grows dark. And darkness fills everything. The stage and the friendship.
A good production that comes to Barcelona
David Selvas has made good use of Paolo Genovese's text. The production, well adapted to Barcelona, seems to have been written for it. Llàtzer Garcia's adaptation is a success. The three couples show different types of social success: the lawyers, the doctor and the psychologist, the veterinarian and the entrepreneurial taxi driver… and, next to them, the single friend, without a partner, without a job.
The costumes and characterization by Pep Carrión are a good element to establish who is who. Without any of the characters opening their mouths, we could identify who is who and who is whose partner. A very good characterization job. The set design by Alejandro Andújar is very efficient and, furthermore, places us very well in the type of family that owns the dining room where the dinner takes place. It is not just a set design, it is a declaration of intent.
Good acting and acting direction
The performers, very well directed by David Selvas, maintain the rhythm of the play and, at no time, exaggerate or overact. They are a group of friends who meet for dinner and we see them through the balcony. They laugh, chat, interrupt each other, argue… and they do it in a way that everything seems natural. There is chemistry between them.
All, without exception, do a very good job: Marta Bayarri, Biel Duran, Eduard Farelo, Júlia Molins, Albert Prat, Vanessa Segura, and Cristian Valencia. But… yes, there is a but… if we had to highlight one, we would highlight Biel Duran, who manages to make his character very tender without ever falling into ridicule.
A comedy that reminds us that, when the wise man points at the moon, the fool looks at the finger.
Perfectes desconeguts is a comedy that makes you laugh a lot. And when you have laughed, ask yourselves… what would you do? Would you dare to make your phone public? A comedy that reminds us that, when the wise man points at the moon, the fool looks at the finger. In this production, everyone looks at the finger and will only see the moon in the photo they take.