BWW Reviews: ODE MARÍTIMA Shows a Dramatic Self-Discovery

As part of the Iberian Suite: global arts remix, The Kennedy Center presented the U.S. premiere of Ode Marítima, written by Àlvaro de Campos. The piece is based off the poem by Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa.

The one-man show features an extremely rational naval engineer, played by actor Diogo Infante. Infante's character finds himself on a pier looking out into the ocean, when he sees a ship. The boat causes him to question his purpose in life and ask if he should have chosen a different path. It is a tumultuous story of one man on an internal journey of self-discovery.

The piece was performed in its original language, Portuguese. It was certainly well written and well visualized; however there seemed to be an excessive use of adjectives. Moreover, because of the flowery and poetic language, it was difficult to follow the subtitles. It was complicated text and there was also a lot of it. As an audience member I found it more satisfying to go in and out of the reading the subtitles. I would read parts and other times I would just watch Infante and try to understand his energy.

That said his energy was phenomenal. Infante portrayed a range of emotions from calm to hysterical to fierce pride to bestiality. The emotional toll that this poem took on the actor is likely overwhelming at times, but ultimately his commitment to the text was worth it. Infante's acting was beautiful. It is a difficult piece considering he is the focus of attention for over an hour and also there is not a lot of activity to it. But his ability to keep the audience intrigued and off guard was phenomenal.

To reflect his passion Tânia Neto created a brilliant lighting design. The changes in color felt natural and well imitated the emotion of the moment. The way the light hit the stage gave you the "all-in-his-head" feel while also being grounded in reality.

In addition, to reinforce the atmosphere, musician and composer João Gil accompanied Infante by playing guitar during the piece. It was a subtle addition, but one that was far better than just having Infante alone on stage. The music was perfectly paired.

Ode Marítima was an amazing and fascinating piece of theater. It evokes intense emotion and feelings about our place in this world, telling everyone to follow their dreams.

Run time is about one hour and fifteen minutes without intermission.

Saturday, March 21 was Ode Marítima's second and final performance date.

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