Don Converse and Amelia Dolejsi performing ‘Curious Smiles’. Photo by Duchess Dale
By Kelly Dolejsi
Los Alamos
Teatro Paraguas will present Los Alamos playwright Robert F. Benjamin’s short comedy “Curious Smiles” live on Zoom at 7 p.m. Friday, April 30, and Saturday, May 1, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 2.
Admission to the 25-minute comedy is free. Find links to register at teatroparaguasnm.org.
Duchess Dale directs this uplifting tale about a grandfather, played by Santa Fe actor Don Converse, and his sassy 10-year-old granddaughter Jamie, played by Amelia Dolejsi, a fifth-grader at Aspen Elementary School in Los Alamos.
“In our play, the grandfather may be considered the ‘Wisdom-keeper’, but Jamie proves that wisdom can also come from the mouths of babes,” Converse said.
It’s fall 2020. The pandemic rages. Schools are conducting remote learning only. During a Zoom call, Grandpa wants to help Jamie with her homework, which her mother says is about the role of grandparents in modern times. However, rather than divulge the assignment directly, Jamie tricks him into talking about wrinkles, vaccinations, and the ideal qualities for an inventor. Will Jamie ever finish her work?
“It feels like I’m on a TV show,” Dolejsi said, who also played Jamie in a more traditional iteration of the play in 2019 at venues in Los Alamos and Taos.
Many viewers will relate to how sheltering-in-place has disrupted lives, and how Zoom and similar platforms have helped people stay connected with friends, family, and colleagues.
“Not all plays work well in the Zoom format,” Dale said, “but Robert Benjamin has crafted this piece to perfectly fit the Zoom screen venue while offering up a foray into the personal experience of the shutdown between a grandfather and his granddaughter.”
Additionally, “after each performance, the audience has a chance to ‘connect’ and engage in a live talk-back with the actors, playwright and director, which allows for some of the in-person theatrical experience we all miss so much,” she said.
Teatro Paraguas recently produced two other plays by Benjamin live on Zoom, “Hunker Down” and “Almost Treason.” Like “Curious Smiles,” “Hunker Down” is what Benjamin called “Purebred Zoom.”
“By ‘purebred,’” Benjamin said, “I mean that not only does the audience watch a Zoom presentation of the play, but the play’s action itself occurs on Zoom.”
In contrast to some COVID-era Zoom plays that take place on a stage or with virtual backgrounds to create the illusion that the characters share a location, he explained that in these the stage is cyberspace itself.
Paola Vengoechea Martini serves as “Zoom Maestra” for “Curious Smiles.” Producer Argos MacCallum also serves as artistic director of Teatro Paraguas. AARP New Mexico sponsored a preview performance of “Curious Smiles” April 14.
This production is made possible in part by New Mexico Arts, a division of the Dept. of Cultural Affairs, and the Santa Fe Community Foundation.
Editor’s Note: Kelly Dolejsi is the mother of Amelia Dolejsi, playing Jamie in “Curious Smiles”.