The audience of “El Gallo” is ushered behind the stately Million Dollar Theater and led through a door in the back. Seated on bleachers in a small bare space, exposed brick and dim lighting create an atmosphere both raw and revealing. A woman comes out, then two more women, followed by two men. These five seem unsure of themselves as they pace back and forth anxiously. An older man appears, and beckons them forth one by one to sing to his piano accompaniment. Though they all speak in a gibberish language, it becomes clear the five are auditioning for something, and the older man is a director.

This is the opening of “El Gallo’s” rabbit hole of emotional conflict. Blending opera, music, dance and theater in unorthodox ways, Teatro de Ciertos Habitantes’ “El Gallo”—which translates to “the rooster”— is a psychotic journey through the mania surrounding auditions, rehearsals, and a premiere.

The six performers degenerate through the course of the show from anxious but professional to crazed, desperate and manic. The audience eventually finds itself looking at the singers in their underwear convulsing on the floor. They have undressed, wrestled, cried, groped toward one another, and recklessly torn at themselves and each other. The scene ends with one woman whirling a flag in surrender as the others writhe on the floor, moaning through their song.

By using gibberish and assigning the characters representational identities without ever knowing their names, composer Paul Barker and director Claudio Valdez Kuri make the five characters universal. This is an important facet of “El Gallo,” as audiences experience the narrative arc through the conduit of emotion rather than through plot. Often chaos ensues on stage, and it becomes difficult to know what has become of the narrative. However, it is this chaos that ends up driving the work forward, as the audience literally feels the same psychosis the performers enact.

A stage manager comes out and escorts the small audience through the backstage, out an outdoor alley, and into the house of the Million Dollar Theater. The ornate façade and the general stateliness of the theater feel too grand for the small audience gathered in the front few rows. The performers come out again, this time well dressed, and begin to sing, ending the show on a triumphant note restored from its earlier madness.

For anyone and everyone who has ever had to perform, whether it be a production or a simple presentation, “El Gallo” resonates with the feelings of inner turmoil and insecurity against an outward display of confidence and professionalism. Teatro de Ciertos Habitantes presents a convincing abstraction of the emotions surrounding performance; “El Gallo” culminates in an evening of psychotic messy triumph.  

“El Gallo” is playing through September 28 at The Million Dollar Theater (307 Broadway, Los Angeles). Tickets are $15-$25. For more information visit the Radar L.A. website here.

More coverage of the Radar L.A. Festival 2013 can be found here.

Contact Contributing Writer Emmaly Wiederholt here or follow her on Twitter here.

Read more by Emmaly Wiederholt at StanceOnDance.com.