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Culture Stage

Review: Paolozzapedia

PAOLOZZAPEDIA by Adam Paolozza (Bad New Days/Why Not Theatre/Riser Project). At the Theatre Centre (1115 Queen West). To May 24. $12-$22. 416-538-0988. See listing. Rating: NNN

Adam Paolozzas ode to his Italian fathers family is still in development, but even at this early stage theres lots to enjoy.

The autobiographical piece begins casually, with Paolozza, a talented clown-trained actor (The Double, Spent), preparing an espresso and offering the audience some brewed coffee. That beverage is part of his fathers routine, he tells us before launching into a series of stories and songs about a quest.

The subject of that quest remains a little fuzzy, but it seems to have something to do with growing up in suburban Toronto, getting older and wanting to connect with his Italian heritage. His blunt father emigrated from a small town in southern Italy decades ago and speaks a dialect from the 50s and 60s. What traits does Adam share with his father and grandfather?

Along with singing a couple of Neapolitan songs, Paolozza recounts a pair of trips to the old country, and these are evocative, especially a story about getting get caught up in a nativity pageant and being interviewed, in his rough Italian, on local TV. The shows most poignant moment comes when he describes his fathers reunion with a sister who didnt emigrate.

A section involving a commedia dellarte mask prompts speculation about his grandfather and an amusing, if overlong, bit of audience interplay.

Not everything works, but the show has lots of spirit and heart. The production, co-directed by Paolozza and Daniele Bartolini, makes good use of sound (by Samuel Sholdice) and Andre Du Toits lighting, which at one memorable point fills the stage with a light that youd swear was imported from Italy.

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