A cemetery somewhere in Mexico. Enter Pedro and Rosita, come to seek his mother's blessing for their wedding on the Day of the Dead. The day when those who have passed over have divine permission to return to earth and share in the pleasures of the living. However, it is not Pedro's mother who joins the couple on this day, and Pedro is not quite what he seems.
Day of the Dead was a comedy, of manners, nationalities, and acting styles; active and passive, English and Latin, self involved and reflexive. It was performed in a mode of ironic clowning, where the audience/performer relationship was always conscious. It was from this that much of the humour was derived, creating a genuinely very funny piece. To keep an audience enraptured, however, acting must be guileless. Stephen Harper and Adrian Norman were sometimes too self conscious to pull this off properly, but Carla Candiotto was utterly charming as Rosita, and the direction made the most of the intimate space at BAC. The piece itself was a little too long and rambling to fully realise its potential, but its sunny disposition and quirky atmosphere left one beguiled and heartened.