GIOVANNI!

GIOVANNI! Hew Parham, Performer, Craig Behenna Co-creator & Director, Adelaide, Australia. These are the notes I took during the performance, in the dark, without looking at the page because I didn't want to miss a second: "Wonky Australian-Italian accent, very funny, goofball clowning, extensive preamble before Giovanni introduces himself, food cosmetics applied to G, diatribe on "piece of shit", nonsense, all related to food, insane character, hit on real truths about modern, fast-paced, convenience-centric world, motivational speaker." All those notes do not adequately convey Hew's laugh riot, virtuoso performance. I didn't mind following his lead even when I didn't know where he was going, because I was effortlessly drawn in to the intimate environment created on stage. Giovanni literally spoke volumes. There was substance in the nonsense. It goes to show that a highly-scripted work can be as fresh, and in the moment as any clown show, when performed in a magnificent spirit of playfulness. (Afterwards, a group of us went to Fortunato Brothers Pasticceria and had cappuccino and Italian sweets. What else could we do?)