Theater

Excitement reached a boiling point when the staff of The National Theater started to unveil its 2015 season on Wednesday morning.

”Corteo” models its costumes and acts on turn-of-the-century Europe. The title is Italian, meaning “procession,” and the atmosphere is a mix of Sicily and vaudeville. Many of the men wear fedoras, suspenders, and seersucker outfits, while the women wear dresses and bloomers. Cirque clowns always have an old-fashioned bag of tricks – props, pratfalls – but the “Corteo” clowns look old-fashioned, like Depression-era hobos. For the moment, Cirque had dropped the “nouveau.” This is the kind of circus your great-grandfather used to see.

When you hear the name “Cirque du Soleil,” you probably don’t think “funeral.” But that is exactly what “Corteo” is about – a funeral. Except that this funeral is for a clown. And the clown is somehow able to watch his own last rites. And it takes place in a carnival tent. And there are lots and lots of acrobats.

“Descent into the Inferno,” playing this weekend at the Butoh Dance Festival, is based on “The Aeneid” by the Roman poet Virgil. In theory, the performance tells the story of the founding of Rome. But under the direction of Fred Herrera, this special Butoh performance promises to disorient and confound the viewer.

This year, William Shakespeare turned 450 years old. To celebrate, Lugiérnaga Producciones is offering a course on how to perform Elizabethan monologues.

Central America is light on snow and brick chimneys, but stories of Santa and Scrooge have saturated Costa Rican culture, and there is no shortage of holiday-themed theater.

“Three” is funny, raunchy, and takes on sensitive subjects. But how did such an obscure play find its way here? And what compelled Costa Rica’s only English-language theater company to produce it?

After four months of rigorous planning, the National Theater finally unleashed its birthday fiesta on San José, and thousand showed up to celebrate. Here’s a taste of what it was like to attend.

You may wonder why 117 years warrant such festivities. For Inés Revuelta Sánchez, the theater’s new managing director, this anniversary is a special one: Revuelta wants to reintroduce the National Theater to Costa Rica.

If you have a fondness for Saturday morning cartoons, “Juan Vainas” is incredibly funny. The play is a continuous stream of slapstick and verbal hijinks, like an Abbott and Costello comedy set in turn-of-the-century Costa Rica.