ITALIAN MIME SUICIDE by the company, directed by Adam Paolozza and Kari Pederson (Bad News Days). Runs to May 1 at the Theatre Centre (1115 Queen West). Pay-what-you-can-afford. theatrecentre.org. Rating: NNN
Mimes are the Rodney Dangerfields (look him up) of the theatre world: they don’t get much respect. In fact, the title of Bad News Theatre’s latest show was inspired by a 2003 headline about an Italian mime jumping off a building, claiming no one appreciated his art.
But as co-director and performer Adam Paolozza (Paolozzapedia, The Double) suggests in this show, mime forms the foundation of all acting. In fact, if you want to get philosophical about it – as the show occasionally does – much of life itself consists of mime.
That’s an intriguing idea, full of theatrical, tragicomic possibilities. And so it’s disappointing that Italian Mime Suicide feels like a workshop production, a series of vignettes of uneven quality strung together.
That’s no fault of the performers, who in addition to Paolozza include Nicholas Eddie, Ericka Leobrera and Rob Feetham, each focused, nimble and endlessly watchable. They’re especially good as an ensemble, whether lipsynching to a hilariously superficial interview about mime (with Paolozza the deadpan, unspeaking straight man guest), or in a scene involving a ladder with a haunting final image.
There’s also a lovely tableau when the performers, outfitted in commedia garb, resemble a painting from Picasso’s rose period.
Paolozza gets a couple of fine sequences, including one in which the house lights turn up and he mimics members of the audience. And a scene in which he is forced to “do the box” – an allusion to the famous Marcel Marceau routine – begins as an ironic in-joke, but, as Paolozza carves out the imaginary world he’s in, soon becomes absorbing.
Which is why I’m not sure all the meta touches in Italian Mime Suicide – including a strange mock talk-back segment – are necessary.
The production’s design (sets, costumes and projections are by Evgenia Mikhaylova) is simple but effective. Arif Mirabdolbaghi’s original music, performed by DJ SlowPitchSound (aka Cheldon Paterson) helps set the tone, taking an old-fashioned Italian ballad and breaking it down into something more contemporary and relatable.
I imagine the company wanted to do the same with mime; their efforts are only partly successful.
