There is no language barrier in this delightful piece of clowning with a political message from San Cesario di Lecce in Southern Italy.
Marta is not born yet, but she is the voice of this story (delivered with clarity by Rebecca Metcalf). Her Mum, Linda (Cristina Mileti) Dad, Arturo (Giuseppe Semeraro) and Gran Mimina (Silvia Lodi) work in a cottage industry filling yellow toy eggs with small surprises.
The surprise egg factory, and everything else in the town for that matter, is owned by the greedy Mr Moneybags. He is rather like the unpleasant Mr Potter in Capra’s 1946 film "It’s a Wonderful Life" with his grasping tentacles coveting everything in sight. He even thinks he owns the moon and the stars and any of the poor townsfolk who dare to look at them pay the penalty of sacrificing their shoes. Since ‘a shoeless man is poorest of the poor’ this is a cruel price to pay for daring to enjoy what belongs to everyone.
The family operate an assembly line where they carry out their cycle of work in resigned but cheerful poverty. In perpetuity they fill the requisite eggs with toys and get paid by the unsmiling Ugo (Otto Marco Mercante), one of Mr Moneybags’ mignons.
In perpetuity they put their wages in a tin for the rent. In perpetuity Ugo comes along and collects the rent. Result? No spare money.
So what does the family do when Marta’s brother Pino (Dario Cadei) has a birthday and is dreaming of a red bike? Use the rent money of course! Pino’s trembling and bright eyed joy at the sight of the tiny red bike is sweet to behold. His taking it on journeys in the air and over his body is testament to Cadei’s mime ability.
Unknown to his family, Pino has used the surprise eggs to send messages to the town about his wish for a red bike and the news of this mysterious bike wisher reaches the wider world. When Arturo can’t pay the rent, Ugo takes Marta’s family’s shoes so they decide to use Pino’s secret and powerful message service to encourage the shoeless people to rise from their slumber and demand their shoes back from miserable old Mr Moneybags. Ah the power of solidarity!
The five actors portray the wackily dressed family of Marta with comic aplomb in this new telling of the old tale of the monopoly of one man’s riches against the poor masses using fine clowning and acting techniques with enchanting silhouette puppetry. Mr Moneybags only appears as a looming, black top hatted terror against the backdrop of the beautiful but forbidden moon and stars.
The set is an absurd-looking place in an indeterminate time (around nineteen canteen?) before phones or credit cards but with an old radio and with several UK references like an old copy of the Radio Times and comic party hats made from old soap powder packaging.
There is a subtle red motif running through the set and costumes hinting at the political message of a fight against oppression and injustice. Not least of these is a red YES (Scotland) badge! Children may be more interested in slapstick and the funny family dynamics but the metaphor is there for the seeing.
This is a wee gem of children’s theatre from an award winning company that tips its hat to cinema with grand musical accompaniment from Grieg, Chopin, and Tchaikovsky to Diamanda Galás, Pascal Comelade, Giovanni Sollima and Simply Red with the highly appropriate song Money’s too tight to mention. Even Ugo, the rent collecting mignon of Mr Moneybags, smiles wearing a complete pair of shoes.
The glorious ending is a fiesta of footwear with silhouetted shoes being passed hand to hand. In the midst of this bloodless coup (or should that be shoe?) Marta is born. Check out this slice of wonderful life!
Runs 4– 24 August (even dates), 2pm
£8 (£7) (£20F)
Suitability 6+