The audience at Martín Bondone’s Odd Man Out listens in pitch blackness to fellow passengers’ conversations.
Perhaps the first thing to clarify about Odd Man Out is that Martín Bondone’s play is unrelated to the 1947 movie by British director Carol Reed that starred James Mason as a robber on the run in Belfast. Although Reed’s work is a famous film noir, Bondone’s Odd Man Out is more than noir—it’s performed in total darkness.
Bondone’s central conceit is that the audience are passengers on an airline flight to Buenos Aires. The notion begins as one checks in; a “boarding pass” is handed out to each traveler. The experience of Odd Man Out is immersive and occasionally interactive—glasses of wine and a small card with Braille are handed out—but it’s also intentionally disorienting. Near the end of the boarding process it becomes clear why. There are three key passengers to eavesdrop on, and one of them, Alberto Rinaldi (Pablo Drutman), is blind. The other two are his seatmates, a woman named Julieta, and a raffish guy named Christian—loud, brash and a flight attendant’s nightmare.
Christian: Should I read the instructions to you?
Old Alberto: No, no need.
Christian: Are you sure? …
Old Alberto: If we were suddenly going into a free fall, would you really take the time to
assist me?
Christian: No, no. I would be desperately yelling for my life.
Despite the blackness, it’s recommended to listen with one’s eyes shut.
Alberto, it turns out, is returning to Buenos Aires after years in New York City, and—signaled by the sound of children playing soccer—the scene flashes back to his youth. Born blind (as was Facundo Bogarin, a co-director along with Bondone and Carlos Armesto), Young Alberto deals with discrimination at school; family friction between his overprotective mother, Mabel, and his father, Juan, who encourages him to do anything he wants; and a friendship with a sympathetic classmate, Clara. Amid an argument between his parents, Alberto runs out into a storm—enhanced by a fine spray. He is called in by a neighbor, Doña Elsa (Lorenza Bernasconi), who spots him. She owns a rowdy parrot and turns out to be Clara’s grandmother. When she picks up a guitar to relieve stress, her playing piques his interest.
Doña Elsa: Do you like music?
Young Alberto: Yes, but I don’t know how to play.
Doña Elsa: No one is born playing. Music, like pretty much everything in life, can be boiled down to two things: effort and determination.
The story alternates between in-flight discussion and flashbacks that tell the story of passenger Alberto Rinaldi. Photographs by Camilo Llorente.
Bondone’s play alternates between in-flight discussion and flashbacks as Young Albert becomes Teenage Alberto (Pablo Drutman, who is also Old Alberto) and romance blossoms. He tells Clara: “When we’re together, I feel like I can do anything and be anything. … You’re like a song at the start of a recital that makes everyone pay attention, and at the end you’ll hum it all the way home.” He teaches her to read Braille.
The coming-of-age story changes when Alberto wins a music scholarship to study in New York. The lovers part; Clara stays mostly in Argentina to work in the barrios and protest government repression. The story feels unexceptional—an artist struggles against outside influences to pursue his calling. It’s been a staple of movies from Young Man with a Horn to The Turning Point to The Pianist. Fortunately, Bondone handles familiar melodramatic elements—anti-Hispanic prejudice, star-crossed lovers, a woman seeking meaningful work—without heavy-handedness.
In New York, Alberto’s abilities grow until he is making albums and playing huge venues. Although five years later Clara joins him, the reunion doesn’t last; she returns to Argentina. “I can’t leave,” she says. “I want to make a difference.”
Despite the familiar elements in Odd Man Out, the manner of presentation makes it fresh. What is essentially radio theater is enhanced by olfactory and tactile elements, such as the rain, designed by Bondone and Armesto. (Tyler Herald is the environmental designer who creates a colorful, inviting boarding area before the show.)
Although one can’t see the actors, the vocal work is outstanding, especially from Drutman and Andrés Montejo as Christian. His voice is a mix of gravel and deceit, while Agustina Cedraschi brings warmth and a touch of steel to Clara. The other actors, playing assorted characters and the parrot Caruso, include Giorgia Valenti, Mauricio Marte, and Henry Henson; all are vocally distinguishable. These plays told in the dark have apparently become popular in Buenos Aires, and for anyone who didn’t grow up with radio, it’s proof that everything old is new again.
Playwright: Martín Bondone
Direction: Martín Bondone, Facundo Bogarín, Carlos Armesto
Storytelling review: Matías Guzmán
Original music: Mirko Mescia
Environmental design: Tyler Herald
Immersive audio design: Nicolás Alvarez
The production of Martín Bondone’s Odd Man Out by PITCHBLACK Immersive Experiences in association with Radio Drama Network runs through Aug. 24 at the Sheen Center for Thought & Culture’s Shiner Theatre (18 Bleecker St., Manhattan). Evening performances are at 7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday; matinees are at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday; the matinee on Aug. 10 is in Spanish. For tickets and more information, visit oddmanoutnyc.com.
