First things first. Julio Torres wants to make sure you know that the show you’re about to see, despite it being described in certain circles that way, is definitely not a “play.”
Instead, he informs us, “This is a rehearsal for presentations I’m going to be giving all across New York City public schools as part of a mandatory course on my color theories.”
Well, the students should consider themselves lucky if that’s the case, because Torres’ not quite one-man show Color Theories provides plenty of laughs with its mock academic lecture about the emotional and symbolic aspects of colors. It seems a natural subject for the El Salvador-born actor, filmmaker, comedian, and writer, considering that he previously did an entire show about shapes.
Torres, whose eclectic creative resume includes the film Problemistas, the acclaimed television series Los Espookys and Fantasmas, and a multi-year stint writing for Saturday Night Live, delivers his presentation in droll, deadpan fashion, coming across as a performance artist with the soul of a stand-up comedian. Or maybe it’s the other way around.
Performing on a set resembling a pop-up book designed by Salvador Dali, littered with a giant melted candle and a similarly oversized, overturned wine glass, he’s accompanied by two silent assistants whose unique costuming is a surprise that won’t be spoiled here. Another co-star is his adorable robot assistant, Bibo, who literally pops out periodically to remind Torres of his time constraints.
Torres advises us that navy blue is “the color of law and order,” that green is “serene and soothing…a rain, a waterfall,” that orange is “the midpoint between childlike joy and rage,” and that yellow is “the color of the platonic idea of childhood.”
But while his descriptions of colors are amusing enough, they basically serve as a springboard for a series of very funny jokes of the sort of wide-ranging variety delivered by a typical observational comedian. He delivers riffs on the sex practices of animals, Ellen DeGeneres, the Portal between Dublin and New York City that got shut down because people couldn’t behave themselves, the difficulties of traveling with a wrinkly passport, the existential crisis of attempting to cross the street in Hanoi, and the overwhelming aspects of visiting an Apple Store.
Many of his gags are leavened with the sort of absurdism more commonly found at an East Village performance space than the Comedy Cellar. It’s not surprising coming from someone who wrote a children’s book about common household items, including a toilet plunger, aspiring to bigger things.
There’s plenty of visual humor on display as well, with Torres providing silly explanatory drawings that, for the benefit of the many patrons seated on the sides with an obstructed view, are projected on various screens. Muriel Parra’s witty costumes and Tommaso Ortino’s ingenious set design, with parts of the stage popping up to reveal various surprises, add greatly to the fun.
Much to his annoyance, the frequent reminders from Bibo (who’s so cute that miniature reproductions should be on sale in the lobby) mean that Torres doesn’t have time to get to all the colors he wants to discuss. But maybe that’s for the best. I mean, should we really be listening to a supposed expert on colors who says his favorite one is clear?
Color Theories opened September 10, 2025 at the Performance Space New York and runs through October 5. Tickets and information: color-theories.com
