When we walked into the Bagley Wright Theatre last night, we had absolutely no expectations from Aurelia's Oratorio. We'd seen the publicity photos and figured it had something to do with playful illusion, but that was the extent of it.

What we saw was astounding. Curtains alive and in love, violent clothing, puppets watching a show starring Aurelia's head, and Aurelia's leg disappearing right in front of us, as a thread-hungry creature unravels the lace of her stockings.

Aurelia's Oratorio is stunning, startling, funny, dark, dreamy, and best of all, it had us smiling and feeling like a delighted child for the majority of the performance. See for yourself while you can. It's only here through the weekend. And hey, it's stars Aurélia Thierrée, Charlie Chaplin's granddaughter. How can you pass that up?

The only sour note of the evening was the late start. Because the highfalutin' types were still dining and drinking in the "rotunda," the show started nearly half an hour later than it was supposed to. Thus, we and our fellow (paying) peasants had to sit in the theater and wait while these people finished their fucking wine and dessert.

Does this seem a little ridiculous to anyone else? It's been our experience that, in the theatre world, when the show time says 7:30, it means 7:30.

Aurelia's Oratorio plays tonight at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2:00 p.m. & 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. // Seattle Repertory Theatre // Buy tickets

Photo copyright Richard Haughton, 2008