This Saturday (Sept 20), the renowned stage play ¡Shhh…! will arrive in the capital. Scheduled for 11:30 AM at Celestial, the production is presented by the Costa Rican theater group Teatro Palíndromos as part of their 2025 Asia Tour.
Originally premiered in 2013, ¡Shhh…! has captivated audiences globally with its innovative concept: four short stories conveyed entirely through physical performance, without dialogue, props, or scenery. The actors engage in physical storytelling, encouraging the audience to envision the narrative alongside them.
The four stories include:
The Cake: A birthday party that goes awry.
Mission Impossible: Two bumbling thieves attempting to steal from a high-security facility.
The Soundbomb: A curious janitor tasked with cleaning a secret lab, unaware of its contents.
The Funeral: A man finds himself at the funeral of a mafia leader, oblivious to his surroundings.
Before the Beijing performance, we interviewed group director Diego Salgado to gain insights into the play, the cast, and what audiences can anticipate.
Could you share a bit about Teatro Palíndromos? Palíndromos marked its 20th anniversary in July. We have consistently aimed to produce theater with a social and reflective perspective. One of our primary objectives is to enhance cultural outreach by bringing theater to numerous locations, enabling audiences without regular access to experience it. Additionally, Palíndromos emphasizes education, visiting schools with thematic performances and educational content for students.
Why did you select ¡Shhh…! for your Asia tour? We chose to take ¡Shhh…! on tour because we realized that traveling with another show to countries that do not speak Spanish or English would be quite challenging and would limit our performance options. Therefore, our aim was always to present a production accessible to all audiences, free from language barriers.
Can you provide some background on the play and its global reception? The play debuted in 2013, and from the start, our goal was to have a production that could be performed in countries where our language isn't spoken. We have always aimed to diversify our productions, and at that time, the mission was clear: to create a play that doesn't rely on spoken language for comprehension. Thus, ¡Shhh…! was conceived. This involved a collective creation process lasting six months, during which we honed the stories that made it to the final version. Since its debut, ¡Shhh…! has been well received, particularly by children, as they are more attuned to their imaginations.
We first showcased it in Costa Rica and that same year toured Germany, Italy, and France. The following year, we presented it in Chile and Argentina. In 2015, we traveled to Russia, and in 2016, to Panama. By 2018, we had performed in the United States, and in 2022, we presented it in Finland and Switzerland. In August 2023, we were in Brazil, and last year we took it to Canada and Colombia. As we've traveled to various countries, some elements have evolved while others have matured, but the play has always retained its original essence.
Could you introduce the cast and creative team for this production? For this tour, there are only two actors: myself (Diego Salgado) and my colleague, María Laura Alvarado. However, the original cast consisted of four actors, and I was not one of them. Back in 2013, I directed the play, but as international tours commenced, I took on one of the roles.
The play features four distinct stories. Do you have a personal favorite among them, and why? Each story in ¡Shhh…! encompasses different themes, with characters reminiscent of cartoons. However, we both agree that our favorite is The Cake, as we find it the most humorous. It includes a lot of physical comedy, and the overarching birthday theme is so universal that it allows the audience to easily connect with the story's plot. Given its commonality, we believe it's the story to which people can relate the most.
What do you hope the audience in Beijing takes away from ¡Shhh…!? We hope that the imaginative use of body language (as a universal form of communication) enables Beijing audiences to enjoy the play’s cartoonish scenarios alongside us.
What comes next for you and the team following the Beijing performance? During this Asian tour, we will also visit a high school in Tokyo and are currently organizing a performance in Seoul with the same play. Afterward, we will return to Costa Rica to continue our performances in educational institutions and the comedies we stage on weekends at various theaters.
¡Shhh…! will take place at Celestial on Saturday, September 20, starting at 11:30 AM. Tickets are priced at RMB 168 and can be obtained by scanning the QR code on the poster above.
Celestial 空想酒吧 2/F
This Saturday, Costa Rica’s Teatro Palíndromos will present the play at Celestial.