“…enjoy the fast-paced verbal and visual humour on display, which has more in common with Blackadder II than The Comedy of Errors“

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars (Outstanding)

This bawdy and highly enjoyable comic romp at TheSpace @ Surgeon’s Hall (Fleming Theatre) is one of the funniest shows you’re likely to see this festival season. The Action Theatre company use a professional cast of ten – large for a Fringe show – to bring to Edinburgh a project that originated in Turin.

The show, spoken in English with pantomime Italian accents, is set in 1572 when a troupe of foreign actors visit the court of Elizabeth I to perform a play-within-a-play called The Jealous Old Man. With the wildly improbable and chaotic plot, period costume, melodramatic acting, and some characters wearing half-masks, many will recognise the dramatic genre as Commedia dell’Arte: the Renaissance theatre tradition that flourished in Europe in the time of Shakespeare. But you don’t need a degree in Theatre Studies to enjoy the fast-paced verbal and visual humour on display, which has more in common with Blackadder II than The Comedy of Errors.

The characters in this sex-comedy are familiar stock types: Pantalone, the foolish old cuckold with an unfaithful young wife; predatory and lustful young men with an eye for the ladies; the Captain, a boastful braggart with feet of clay; the Doctor, the pompous host and master of the house in which a farcical dinner party is held; and a gaggle of male and female servants, some of whom are buffoons, others perhaps wiser than their masters.

There are many very fine performances in this show, which draw laughter from the audience by making skilful use of melodramatic irony and innuendo. George Mouskoundi’s unmasked face, highly mobile eyebrows, and ranting braggadocio are ideal for the sword-waving Captain. Ina Lark and Simona Bisconti both have the electric eyes required for the smouldering temptresses they play. Aimee Hislop and Juliet Turnbull keep the action engaging by breaking the fourth wall with many a knowing glance at the audience. Samuel Wright, with his towering physique and wide eyes glaring through an almost infernal half-mask comes across like some sort of slapstick Beelzebub. Kuluk Helms gives Miranda Richardson a run for her money in her portrayal of a loopy Queen Elizabeth. (Apologies to those actors I haven’t mentioned due to lack of space – you were all great!)

This is a very entertaining show with live music played on stage and some fine singing, including close harmony. At 50 minutes long, the time flew by and the sustained applause at the end was well deserved. The only fault I would pick is the choice of venue: the Fleming Theatre is a lecture auditorium with a very shallow rake for the seating. You’ll need to sit near the front for a good view if you’re on the short side.

I’ll end by saying that the show’s director, Rupert Raison, is giving a talk about Commedia and Half-Mask theatre in the Symposium Hall at the same venue for one day only on 18th August at 11am. If you’re a theatre geek like me, maybe get yourself along to that, too?