QUERENCIA
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Columbus bashing has been fashionable for so long that this year, the 500th anniversary of his having stumbled upon the Caribbean, it’s become almost passe. But in Querencia (meaning “longing” in Spanish, but pronounced by the Bottom of Your Shoe troupe more like carencia, meaning “lack”), ingenuity and creativity make the Columbus story a blast to watch. Surreal, magical, surprisingly well researched, and actually funny, Querencia gives a little history lesson about the origins of the Americas as we’ve come to know them and explores some questions about moral responsibility.
The group goes a bit far in its indictment of Columbus and his legacy–they even blame AIDS on the guy–but overall the politics aren’t so overwhelming or far-reaching as to detract from the story. Indeed, the politics at the core of the piece are garden-variety liberal, so they’re not taxing.
The ending, with its ritual and penance, may be too Catholic–or just plain too much–for some people. The pat resolution is disappointing, but luckily it doesn’t detract much from our enjoyment of the show.
