Pareidolia

Pareidolia explores the playful power of imagination – when everyday objects transform before our eyes. Jackets become singers, tutus become ostriches, and oceans of plastic dance like waves in this wordless visual theatre experience. Poetic, comedic, and endlessly inventive, the show invites audiences of all ages and cultures to discover the extraordinary hidden within the ordinary.

“Pareidolia is a revolutionary act that invites us to reconnect with the playful spirit of our childhood, when everything was possible and everything had a soul.” (La Llave Maestra)

La Llave Maestra has become one of Chile’s leading companies in Visual theatre. They combine Object Theatre, Masks, Clowning and Movement in their creations; creating poetic, playful and surrealist universes that make the spectator travel creatively and connect them with their own dreams and delusions.

Pareidolia is a master class in physical theatre where the absence of words creates a universal language for all; fully relying on body language, movement, and sound to appeal to the viewer’s imagination . It asks us: if we change the way we look at the world, can we also change our perception of reality?

October 2, 2026 at 1:30 PM
October 2, 2026 at 7:30 PM

Sensory and/or Content Warnings: Dark, Loud Music, Fog

“The word “Pareidolia” is defined as the ability that our mind has to recognize familiar patterns in abstract forms.  RUTAS has been trying to program this piece since 2020.  I was drawn to its artistry, and also to the fact that I haven’t seen anything like this in Toronto.  The deep question underneath this journey into the imagination speaks to our ability to “see” and “observe” reality.  As we surrender to the magic on stage our sense of what is real is transformed, opening up everyday life to a world of creative, poetic possibilities filled with new meanings that have always been beside us but that we do not usually manage to “see” or “perceive”. “

Beatriz Pizano, Aluna Theatre Artistic Director

“Scenic visuality in its purest form, playful and naïve but technically virtuous. A playful and poetic language irresistibly seductive.”

Jorge Letelier

“That a cardboard box or a plastic bag can become a spaceship or the blue sea, are gadgets of homo ludens that we soon lose, socialized in the painful trance of incorporating into adult life.
Going to see Pareidolia is an invitation to be free again from the value of the use of things, to be children again.”

Rodrigo Hidalgo, El desconcierto, Chile

About the artist

EDURNE RANKIN:

Actress, director, playwright and costume designer.
Founder and co-director of the Visual and Object Theater Company La Llave Maestra.

Trained at the Escuela Navarra de Teatro (Spain) and later at the Ecole Phillipe Gaulier (France). Edurne deepens her professional training, researching and experimenting in languages linked to gesture, movement and visuality with leading companies and teachers such as; Phillipe Genty (France), Family Flöez (Germany), Jos Houben (Belgium) and Ana Alvarado (Argentina).

Between 2006 and 2009 she performed with the company Ciklos Organismo Teatral, with which she toured theaters and festivals in Chile, Colombia, Peru, Argentina and Austria.

In 2010 he founded and co-directed with Alvaro Morales the company La Llave Maestra, with whom he creates, designs and directs 5 shows of visual and object theater: Bestiario, Delirios de Papel, Los Niños del Winnipeg, Nómadas and Pareidolia. These works have been presented in theaters, fairs and festivals in 18 countries and have been highlighted by the public and critics for their creativity, innovation and particular visual poetics.

Parallel to her work with La Llave Maestra, Edurne has directed, written and created the integral design of outstanding theater, contemporary circus, dance and opera shows such as; the opera Pinocchio, Peter and the Wolf and the cantata La Chamaniña y el Viejo Lobo de Mar for El Teatro del Lago, Assistant Director in Chaika for the company Belova-Iacobelli (Chile-Belgium), Frágil company Circustanzia (Spain), Momo for La Ortiga TDS (Spain) among others.

As a pedagogue she has taught courses, seminars and workshops for professional artists, political refugees and students in Chile, Brazil, USA, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Spain, France and Taiwan.

In 2023, together with La Llave Maestra, she created the training project La Escuela Imaginaria, a space for improvement and creation laboratory in visual theater for professionals in the performing arts.

Edurne’s work has been recognized and supported by various institutions such as Iberescena, INAEM, Ministry of Culture and Arts of Chile, Directorate of Cultural Affairs of Chile (DIRAC), Pro-chile, Corfo, Teatro Gayarre de Pamplona, Casa de la cultura de Mutilva, Casa de la cultura de Noain and Centro Cultural de Burlada in Navarra Spain.

ALVARO MORALES

Actor, director, pedagogue and visual artist.
Founder and co-director of the visual and object theater company La Llave Maestra.

Trained in physical and gestural theater by the theatrical and pedagogical vision of Jacques Lecoq, at International school of image and gesture La Mancha (Chile).
Subsequently, he completed a diploma in the relationship between body and therapy at the School of Body Therapy in Santiago de Chile.

Álvaro deepens his professional training, researching and experimenting in the languages linked to gesture, movement and visuality with leading companies and teachers such as; Phillipe Genty (France), Family Flöez (Germany), Jos Houben (Belgium) and Ana Alvarado (Argentina).

Between 2001 and 2009 he founded and co-directed the company Ciklos Organismo Teatral, with which he created 4 shows that toured Chile, Colombia, Peru, Argentina and Austria.

In 2010 he founded and co-directed with Edurne Rankin the company La Llave Maestra, with whom he creates, designs and directs 5 shows of visual and object theatre: Bestiary, Deliriums of paper, Children from Winnipeg, Nomads and Pareidolia. These works have been presented in theatres, fairs and festivals in 18 countries and have been highlighted by the public and critics for their creativity, innovation and particular visual poetics.

Parallel to his work with La Llave Maestra, Álvaro has directed, written and performed the integral design of outstanding theatre, contemporary circus, dance and opera shows such as; the opera Pinocchio, Peter and the Wolf and the cantata La Chamaniña y el Viejo Lobo de Mar for El Teatro del Lago, Sub-zirko and La Voz de los 80 for El Circo del Mundo Chile, Frágil compañía Circustanzia (Spain), Momo for La Ortiga TDS (Spain) among others.

As a pedagogue he has taught courses, seminars and workshops for professional artists, political refugees and students in Chile, Brazil, United States, Peru, Cuba, Bolivia, Spain, France and Taiwan.

In 2023, together with La Llave Maestra, he created the training project La Escuela Imaginaria, a space for improvement and creation laboratory in visual theatre for professionals in the performing arts.

Álvaro’s work has been recognized and supported by various institutions such as Iberescena, INAEM, Ministry of Culture and Arts of Chile, Directorate of Cultural Affairs of Chile (DIRAC), Pro-chile, Corfo, Teatro Gayarre de Pamplona, Casa de la cultura de Mutilva, Casa de la cultura de Noain and Centro Cultural de Burlada in Navarra Spain.

CANADIAN TOUR
The PAREIDOLIA tour in Canada extends to two other cities, Halifax and Burlington.

This historic tour has been made possible thanks to the support of the General Consulate of Chile in Toronto, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile (DIRAC), Aluna Theatre, the RUTAS festival and our presenting partners, the Prismatic Festival and The Burlington Arts Centre.