Upon first hearing about Teatro Ciego from a friend, I knew it was a Buenos Aires experience I just couldn’t miss. Translated as Blind Theater, Teatro Ciego is essentially a dinner theater…just in utter, total darkness.
Founded in 2008 by Martin Bondone and Gerardo Bentatti, the Centro Argentino de Teatro Ciego remains the only theater in the world where all of the shows, events and presentations are experienced in complete blackness. Not just a theater, it is also a work environment where waiters, technicians, musicians and others with visual impairments are embraced for their disability, not hired in spite of it. The Center, located in the funky Balvaneros neighborhood, offers five different shows as well as courses like tango and theater for the blind. The espectáculo I was lucky enough to see is called A Ciegos con Luz- a gourmet musical show completely in the dark.
I walked into Teatro Ciego excited and slightly nervous for what was sure to be a disconcerting and eye-opening (pun-intended) experience. After milling about with the small, (around 30 people) mostly porteño crowd, we were instructed to get into groups of four and line up kindergarten-style, hands on shoulders. “Los primeros cinco minutos son terribles,” (the first five minutes are terrible) said Martin. “But don’t worry, your body will adjust to the dark.”
I’m not sure what kind of darkness I was expecting–maybe the kind of movie-set darkness where it’s supposed to be nighttime but you can still see everything in romantic shadows. This was not that kind of darkness. This was can’t-see-your-hand-two-inches-in-front-of-your-face darkness. Martin was completely right; the first five minutes were terrible and distressing. With a churning stomach and pounding heart, I could practically feel the synapses in my brain straining to makes sense of this sudden and complete lack of visual stimuli. But, as warned, after about five minutes and a big ol’ glass of wine I relaxed, adjusted and ready for what came next: food!
Although I will never be quite sure exactly what I ate, I surmised the following: the gourmet finger-foods served at Teatro Ciego are both delicious and plentiful. Placed on heavy, un-flippable slabs, my table companions and I laughed our way through the meal, occasionally getting in each other’s way while speculating on what we were eating. The bowl in the middle of the table was filled with a variety of artisan breads, which we washed down with vino tinto. As for the rest, you’ll have to guess for yourself!
After about twenty minutes of eating and chatting, the show itself began. A compilation of singing, theater, and just trippy, sense-heightening experiences (no spoilers!), the show is technically brilliant, but a little lacking in cohesion. However, the voice of aptly named singer Luz Yacianci is truly transcendent. While it was no West End masterpiece, the experience of sitting in pitch darkness with a full tummy and a little wine-drunk definitely enhanced the performance.
A full two hours after first being submerged in total darkness, the lights finally came back on. Blinking dumbly, my table companions and I got to know each other a bit more and laughed at the mess we’d made on the table. I also had the pleasure of chatting with two of the blind servers and singer Yacianci after the show.
“What’s you favorite part of your job?” I asked Graciela, a waitress.
“Contact with the people,” she replied. Yacianci added that she loves singing in the dark because there’s no reason to feel self conscious, she can move to the music how she wants, free of possible ridicule.
When I asked what the funniest thing that a patron had ever done during the show was, Yacianci and Gabriel, a waiter both laughed, recounting to me the time somebody had taken all their clothes off.
“He was completely naked,” said Gabriel with a grin.
While nothing of that magnitude happened during my night at Teatro Ciego, I don’t doubt that things could easily get crazy. With heightened senses and emotions, you never know what people will do. That sense of the unknown, the obscure, the veiled, is what makes Teatro Ciego a theater-going experience like no other. You always know how Phantom of the Opera or Madame Butterfly will end, but you never know what can happen in the dark.
