FOOL’S GOLD
Randolph Theatre
Rating: NNN
See show info here
Fool’s Gold is an old-fashioned (in a good sense of that term) commedia dell’arte show presented by actor/devisers who know the form and present it in an entertaining fashion.
The story’s a familiar one: money-hungry Pantalone (Stephen LaFrenie) plans to marry his daughter, Isabella (Rachelle Casseus), to old, big-bellied Count Antonio Viagra (David Langlois), but she loves the young Lelio (Arthur Burrows). With the sometimes blundering help of Pantalone’s trickster servant, Arlecchino (Geoffrey Armour), everything turns out as it should.
In traditional costumes and masks, the company performs the narrative with the addition of contemporary and local references. Sometimes individual episodes go on longer than necessary, but there’s lots of fun to be had along the way.
