Made in Italy, to the stage in Saskatoon.
The one-man play written and performed by Farren Timoteo is not just a comedy — it’s also a reflection and connection to the stories and experiences of his father, an Italian who grew up in small-town Alberta.
“I think it translates to a virtuosic comedic experience, set in an Italian dining room, that gives us a glimpse into Italian life and the immigrant experience in the 70s,” he said. “It’s filled with laughter, music and physical comedy.”
The show follows an Italian teen growing up in Jasper in the 1970s, doing his best to navigate the line between his Italian heritage and the Canadian town he’s living in — and the influence of his various (and somewhat quirky) family.
For years, Timoteo said he enjoyed doing comical impersonations of his Italian family members — to their delight as well. Those impressions influenced Timoteo’s stand-up comedy, but it took some time before a show began to coalesce.
But the chance to connect more with his father — over numerous visits to the Old Spaghetti Factory — led to a show growing out of those fun impersonations and family experiences. In particular, Timoteo said he was struck by his father’s stories of being a young Italian man in Canada being rather different to his own in key ways.
“At that time, he wished he wasn’t Italian. He just wanted to blend in. For me, it’s always been awesome — beautiful food and art and music,” Timoteo said. “To hear that was something he wasn’t immediately proud of was a fascinating thing for me to learn about him, and something I wanted to dig into … and the more he shared, the more I realized there was a story that pulled all of this together.”
And though it might be a one-man show, Timoteo is not limited to one role. Drawing from those impersonations inspired by family members, Timoteo plays numerous characters throughout the show. At its heart, the show is a comedy — and Timoteo said there’s a lot to laugh along with.
“It’s been the most beautiful adventure. I love to do this show, and it’s allowed me to see the country and connect with audiences over comedy and laughter,” he said.
The show first debuted in 2016 to great acclaim, and has toured across Canada numerous times. Timoteo said the experiences of his family might be unique to them, but that overall feeling of being alone in a strange world was one shared by many.
And the opportunity to show his father, even this many years later, that he wasn’t alone in his experience coming to Canada, gives Made in Italy a genuine core.
“So many other people were having these experiences too, separately and alone. And I think there’s something really powerful about knowing, even retroactively, that none of them were alone,” Timoteo said.
Made in Italy runs at Persephone Theatre until March 23. Tickets can be purchased online at persephonetheatre.org.
