PALMARES

So much of the world’s history is obscure to the general public, so when a bit of it is brought to my attention, in any way possible, I’m grateful to gain that new knowledge.

That’s what made this Hollywood Fringe Festival show, Palmares, interesting to me. It’s about a real-life tribe of Brazilians in the late 1600s fighting to remain a free people against Portuguese colonizers and enslavers. Raise your hand if you’ve ever heard of this conflict. Anyone?

Usually, I would not take the time to see a show about that most likely painful subject, choosing to just research it instead at home, but I knew the production also involved the spectacular Brazilian art of capoeira, which I love, and music and dance, so I chose to give it a go.

The entertainment started before the play even began, so that’s where I will, as well. As my friend Marc and I drove up to the Broadwater complex in Hollywood, we heard live drum music, so I hoped that would be the direction in which we were heading. And then we saw a happy crowd moving and grooving to the lively music right out there on the sidewalk in front of the theatre! I could not wait to be part of it.

And as we walked-up to check-in, we noticed that a guy, (who turned-out to be one of the actors, Jelani Lateef,) was helping an elderly couple up the ramp to sit down in the foyer, out of the sun. So I was already a fan of his.

He then pointed us to one of the producers, Nayla Santo, who could not have been lovelier to us; she was so unlike most of the brusque and worried show-runners I usually come upon. So all of the above set the evening off just right for us.

Of course, I researched the topic when I got home, and was surprised to see that this fictionalized story of what went down in that region back then was pretty accurate. Well, as accurate as a ninety-minute, fifteen-person cast can be in the saga of the fall of a real-life region.

The best parts of Palmares are the many instances of capoeira, which is an Afro-Brazilian martial art with an element of dance. This was only the second time I had seen it done in person, and it’s spectacular, especially in a close-up situation like this one.

Marc and I could tell that some of the cast members were more dancers and capoeira masters than actors, but it’s okay. I’d rather see great movement than great acting any day.

But a few of the actors stood out to us, especially when the story really got going about halfway through.

Peter Lownds, as the Governor, is the most polished actor in the cast, and in his one scene, he made me finally understand what was going on in this entire tale. Even though he forget his lines at one point on the night we saw the show, I love that he saved it by saying, in character, “I must read my decree,” which the Governor was rightly carrying and referring to in order to make the deal with the King of Palmares, so obviously his script pages were written on it. I always appreciate a clever theatre save.

And we both (correctly) felt right away that Maurice Shaw, who plays the Bush Captain, must work in the business a lot. I can’t tell you how many times Marc told me that Maurice was “the best!” (Not that it’s ever a contest, but audiences often do make it one.)

As a UCLA person myself, I adored learning that Maurice got his MFA from there, (which is a great program Mr. X was in when I met him.) And I was happy to find-out that Tulani Simone, the actress who elicited the most laughs in appropriate places, is also a dancer and…a lawyer! From UCLA School of Law, of course. My fellow Bruins are making our school proud.

The best visual (outside of the capoeira, of course,) comes courtesy of Felicia “Onyi” Richards, who, in her flowing white outfit with lots of turquoise jewelry, is stunning. She looks like she stepped straight out of the pages of Vogue!

As far as all of the acting goes, though, the narrative would greatly benefit from the actors moving their dialogue along by not stopping at every period in the script. That’s Directing and Acting 101.

And Marc and I couldn’t figure-out if this bit of the script was intentional or not, but there seemed to be some modern jargon mixed in, like a reference to Wikipedia! In 1694! It half confused us and half amused us.

The live music, played by George Karpasitis and Val Boa Morte on several very interesting instruments, is a highlight of the presentation. What a treat. We loved it!

And Palmares has the nicest physical programs I’ve ever seen in a not-major theatre! Very impressive.

In recent years, I’ve learned that there’s a big Brazilian community in Los Angeles, so I’m thinking that they should all see Palmares, whether or not they’re familiar with this period of their country’s history. It’s very enlightening.

But there’s only this week-end left to do so. So hurry! Here’s all the pertinent info you’ll need:

Palmares has one final performance on June 25, 2023
Broadwater Theatre
1076 Lillian Way, Hollywood
www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/5543