Borges and I

Jorge Luis Borges was a Latin-American writer, head of the Argentina’s National Library, who had to give up his passion, reading, due to his worsening eyesight. He had a very playful and magical way of writing, and he influenced the literature of the twentieth century.
Idle Motion company have brought to the Fringe a show that mixes both Borges writings, Borges own life, and the life of a group of book club members who are going through similar things that Borges went through. But don’t be fooled, if it all sounds a bit too literary, it is but in the best of the senses.
The whole production is beautifully presented, with an extremely inventive use for the mountains of books that populate the stage. There is a book plane, and a human-book. It rains paper, and books light up. ‘Borges and I’ is pure visual poetry, and of the highest standards for that. Books become birds, and then transform into a tiger.
But even if the books are the focal point, the protagonists of the story are played by six talented actors, whose passion for what they are telling, and love for the literature world are palpable. Julian Spooner is perfect in both Borges and Jim’s roles. Shophie Cullen excels in transmiting the fear of becoming blind, while Joel Gatehouse, who plays her boyfriend, is a fantastic mixture of sexiness and geekyness. Their relationship, and the honesty with which they strip on stage, is touching. Grace Chapman, Ellie Simpson and Kate Stanley are also terrific, in a play where there is no weak link.
If there is a small niggle (and it is, after all, a very small one), is the pronunciation of the Borges name itself, which is not the correct one. Something silly, but that does jar at times with the beauty of the whole act.
‘Borges and I’ is a joy, a perfect little play, and by the end of it, they deserve the prolonged ovation they get.

5/5

Adrian G. Velazquez