Never before has a show made me want so much to be Italian. Nor has one made me laugh at one Italian-Canadian’s hijinks quite this much.
Made in Italy is the one-man show by actor Farren Timoteo, highlighting a somewhat fictionalized version of his father’s life and upbringing as a second-generation Italian immigrant in Jasper, Alberta in the 1970s. Timoteo plays his teenage father and a plethora of other characters both in and around his family.
Timoteo said his first forays into comedic impressions of his family came as part of some stand-up comedy, and the delivery definitely feels like a stand-up show early on. Absolutely hilarious caricatures of uncles, aunts, cousins and friends, from small-working-town Jasper to a trip back to his ancestral home in Italy, pop in and out with repeated, characteristic voices and physical mannerisms.
But it’s Timoteo’s physicality and musical chops that elevate this show from something we’ve seen before to something truly unique. First – can he ever sing. One of the major recurring storytelling devices is the role of music in this family, and it gives Timoteo the chance to sing all kinds of styles with aplomb.
Second, the movement skills were amazing. When he wasn’t leaping and crawling across the dining room table that dominates the stage, Timoteo was dancing and grooving across the floor. And each impression he performs comes with a beautifully defined physical quirk that makes it easy to tell who he is before he speaks. A slight bend in his back? There’s the patriarch of the family. Wide-spread legs? The uncle. It makes Timoteo’s variety of comedic impersonations stunningly easy to follow.
Now, does the story pack a lot of emotional punch? Perhaps not. But that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. It would be easy to call this show entertaining, plain and simple — but there’s nothing “plain and simple” about Made in Italy. Timoteo called the show a “virtuosic comedic experience” in an interview, and that might not be hyperbole. The jokes don’t get old, and he does a great job pulling comedy out of more and more places as we travel both the decades and the globe.
If you’ve read previous reviews on this site, you’ll know that I have commented on the last couple Persephone Theatre shows I’ve seen as starting strong and then losing momentum in the second half. Made in Italy bucks that trend by rolling into a satisfying and heartwarming conclusion to the almost-two-hour comedic romp, complete with music and delicious Italian food. It’s awesome to see a show filled with such humour and cleverness be self-aware enough to not overstay its welcome, or tread too deep into unearned melodrama.
The show doesn’t tread much new ground, but the well-worn path it travels to share the story of an immigrant experience is filled with wit and zeal. Timoteo is a riveting storyteller, and his combination of comedic timing and physical ability makes Made in Italy a laugh-out-loud night at the theatre. Capisce?
Made in Italy runs at Persephone Theatre until March 23. Tickets can be purchased online at persephonetheatre.org.
