This week “La Strada” (Kenny Wax Ltd in association with Cambridge Arts Theatre and Bristol Old Vic presenting The Belgrade Theatre Coventry’s production) is on at Richmond Theatre in Surrey before touring the UK and hitting the West End at The Other Place for 30th May to 8 July.
The story is based on Fellini’s film about a strange young girl called Gelsomina who is sold by her mother to strong man Zampano to tour on his motorbike. Zampano treats her badly – when he is not spending time getting drunk and with women. The time spent on the road brings them into contact with others including a circus community – and a clown (The Fool) who is kind to her.
The ensemble includes musicians (singers, violins, guitars and accordion) and they show great versatility with songs that are joyful (at a wedding), sultry (in a bar), soulful (a solo by The Fool) and at other times mystical and ethereal (in the chapel).
The set design, lighting and sound effects create an intense and intoxicating atmosphere which evokes the Italian countryside at night and by day as well as the grey, depressing poverty of small towns, the power and loneliness of the sea and crowded bustling cities.
Audrey Brisson, who plays Gelsomina, is a tiny figure who manages to portray the compelling and charming weirdness of her character. She is utterly mesmerising and inscrutable. Stuart Goodwin as Zampano – despite his brutish behaviour - manages to capture the sympathy of the audience for his own hidden pain. And Bart Soroczynski, as The Fool, dazzles both with his lightness and fun (including unicycling) and his tender philosophical encouragement to Gelsomina.
It’s a multicultural cast and there are songs and dialogue in Italian and French at times – which all adds to the atmosphere and overall feeling of confusion.
Perhaps it is a metaphor for life: We are all on the road. And while some take time to see the beauty in each moment, others allow themselves to see only the pain and become trapped by chains they create themselves. But there’s a hopeful message in there too - everyone has a purpose and our job is to discover what it is.
It’s both charming and alarming. Funny and poignant. A feast for the eyes and food for thought.
