'Giovanni's room': a showy function despite being too narrative

Giovanni's room ranks second on the list of the 100 best gay and lesbian novels, compiled by The Publishing Triangle in 1999 and topped by Death in Venice. It seems logical, being a novel by a writer, James Baldwin (Harlem, New York, 1924 - Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France, 1987), who in 1956 championed the normality of homosexual relationships in the United States where sodomy was not decriminalized until 2003.

Baldwin's book speaks of the social alienation of the displaced, of how to understand masculinity, of identity, and, above all, of sexuality. And in our opinion, this is the epicenter of the adaptation by the staging by Internationalaal Theater Amsterdam under the direction of Eleine Arbo. From this director, we recall the magnificent The hours, the theatrical adaptation of Michael Cunningham's novel that was presented at the TNC last season.

The play stars David, a young bisexual American kept by his parents who wanders through Paris. His girlfriend has gone to Spain to clarify what she wants to do with her life, and he visits an old homosexual acquaintance known for asking him for money. This acquaintance will take him to a gay club where he will meet an Italian immigrant, Giovanni, with whom he will begin a relationship.

The version accurately summarizes and focuses on the vital conflict and marginalization of those who did not want or know how to come out of the closet, depicting situations that are still current today in many societies. And it does so with a showy scenic display, with great plasticity and resources, with music and some choreography to compensate for the narrativity of the story, but with a somewhat distant dramatic treatment and, consequently, imbued with coldness. This is further reinforced by a spectacular lighting design that prioritizes dimness over clarity and, therefore, hides the expressions on the faces and the psychological background of the drama experienced by the performers.

It is clear that, faced with a Dutch-language text theater performance that forces most spectators to read for two hours without being able to look at the stage too well, it will not matter too much either. Perhaps the advisability of programming textual proposals in little-known languages should be evaluated.