“Its combination of Gothic unease, camp melodrama, dark comedy and psychological intrigue creates an absorbing theatrical experience.”
Part camp Brazilian telenovela, part Gothic fable, The Last Drop arrives from Brazil’s Manás Theatre Lab, finding a new home at ZOO Playhouse’s High School Yard this Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Part of the festival’s São Paulo showcase, this work, performed in Portuguese with subtitles, blends dark comedy with psychological thrills for an intriguing theatrical cocktail.
Directed by Dante Passarelli, who co-writes with Fernanda Zancopé, The Last Drop centres on couple, Cynthia and Gilberto, waiting for a real estate visit to their decaying apartment. However, the appearance of a mould stain and a continuous leak from the ceiling sends the couple into disarray. A contractor sent to repair the crumbling ceiling inspires further chaos and unveils some of the dark past buried within the apartment’s walls.
A darkened set, dripping in green-tinged light, eerily illuminates a doorway shrouded in dated wallpaper, as the two cast members stare unsettlingly ahead, while another lies on the floor. Projected subtitles run along the top of the doorway, translating the Portuguese dialogue in an effective and subtly absorbing manner. There’s an atemporal vibe to the staging, with costumes feeling plucked from various eras, giving The Last Drop a sinister ambiguity about its setting and place in history.
Whilst the set-up of The Last Drop leans towards the sinister and quietly unsettling, there is also plenty of humour to be found in this dark tale. The performances, whilst dramatically entertaining and skilled, veer into theatrical camp with a Gothic edge. There’s something of Tim Burton about the inhabitants of the apartment complex. These performances bring big Latin drama alongside genuinely moving moments that veer from the mysterious to the touching. Alessandra Arvati, Ernani Sanchez, Eduardo Leoni and Fernanda D’Umbra make up the impressive ensemble.
On a surface level, The Last Drop makes observations about the world of gentrification, attachment to older properties, and the character of the ageing buildings in our towns and cities. Digging thematically beyond that, there are richer, more enigmatic narratives centred on the fated and haunting nature of family history, interspersed with themes of revenge and unease. Passarelli’s narrative gradually unveils its true colours and textures, whilst balancing a fine line between telenovela outrageousness, bold comedy and societal transition.
The Last Drop is a wonderfully strange and atmospheric piece of theatre, successfully blending genres. Its combination of Gothic unease, camp melodrama, dark comedy and psychological intrigue creates an absorbing theatrical experience, while its striking visual language gives the production an appropriately haunting quality.
On a side note, whilst The Last Drop is deeply entertaining, one should remember that this one of the cosier venues at the Fringe, so bring a small fan!
The Last Drop plays at ZOO Playground this Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Tickets are available here.
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