Hug Hug Kiss Kiss
There’s an old saying, “If you want to know…just ask”. The Soho Hotel in downtown Toronto is what they call a boutique hotel. I’ve never really understood what that meant until my partner and I spent a couple of days hanging out with our inductees, which included Armand Assante. Yes, that Armand. The staff at the Soho is what I call hip and pronto and very informed. Lanfranco, the Italian concierge, has been in the room business forever and his encounter with celebrity cakes has been many. Over the past couple of years we have become good friends with Franco and often converse in our native tongues. I walked into SENSES, a dimly-lit upscale watering hole with comfortable couches, designer chairs and an assortment of alcohol that lined the endless bar like a lightshow. We made contact with Mr. Assante and greeted each other in the customary Italian fashion, hug hug, kiss kiss. Our server was quick and I ordered two Martini and Rossi, red, frozen-cold, without any ice.
Having spent the last 30 years in Tinsletown hasn’t hardened me. I still feel the aweness of meeting someone special and “Il Duro” was very much that. We chatted about kids, making movies, living on a farm. We even managed to discuss my fall that left me broken-fingered. We talked about family and roots. The more we filled the room with colorful common verbiage, the more we connected. Our humorous repartee confirmed the commonality of our heritage and the strength that our ancestors had endured for us.
We made our way to Forget About It, a trendy restaurant in the ever-expanding entertainment district of TO. The last time we were there was for a reading of Ice Time, a film based on the life of legendary hockey icon, Phil Esposito, which seemed to have melted away to nothing. Like true hungry gladiators, we all managed to down a feast of Italian delectable dishes, a few bottles of wine and more tasty conversation. Mike, our click-happy photographer never missed a moment in capturing the purity of undisguised presence. In the famous words of Elvis, “It was a night, um what a night, it was really such a night.” We undid a few holes in our belts and proceeded to hail a couple of cabs to take us back at the Soho. It was hug hug, kiss kiss, once again and a buona notte to an evening that will dance in our hearts forever.
Toronto Premiere of Questo Buio Feroce (The Wild Darkness) from Italy’s Compagnia Pippo Delbono
World Stage to host Toronto Premiere of Questo Buio Feroce (The Wild Darkness) from Italy’s Compagnia Pippo Delbono
TORONTO – Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage 2011 is proud to host Italian performer/director Pippo Delbono for his inaugural visit to a Toronto stage with the theatrical spectacle Questo Buio Feroce (The Wild Darkness), January 26 to January 29, 2011 at the Fleck Dance Theatre.
For over 20 years Delbono has been creating works that defy the boundaries of contemporary theatre, working with world renowned dance and theatre creators, including the legendary Pina Bausch. His visions have been described as “part theater, part dance, part carnival, part music, the works … are hard to categorize; they leave viewers alternately elated, drained, shocked and thoughtful.” – Tara Mulholland, New York Times.
Delbono’s Questo Buio Feroce was inspired and adapted from the autobiographical essays This Wild Darkness: The Story of My Life by American writer Harold Brodkey, as he neared death from AIDS, first published in 1996. The stage adaptation is a reflection on life in the shadow of death: “a parade of haunting tableaux that connect in a poetic way, defying interpretation.” – Pat Donnelly, Montreal Gazette.
Questo Buio Feroce features actors and non-actors whom Delbono has assembled from various walks of life, including Bobò (who spent over 40 years in a Naples asylum for the clinically insane), former homeless people, and individuals confronted with other adverse circumstances. “After having worked with them,” said Delbono, “I can no longer accept that the more ‘difficult’ members of society be looked upon differently. They have become the stars of my success…It just goes to show that diversity can be a fundamental tool to opening up people’s perspectives.”
In celebration of the Toronto premiere of Questo Buio Feroce, Harbourfront Centre will launch the balance of World Stage 2010-11 with a contest offering audiences an opportunity to win a Trip for 2 to Campania, Italy, compliments of Transat Holidays. Details will be available on harbourfrontcentre.com in early to mid-December.
Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage 2010-11 Questo Buio Feroce (The Wild Darkness) – In English and Italian with English surtitles Compagnia Pippo Delbono (Italy) Jan. 26-29, 8 p.m. (*Post-show Q & A Jan. 27) Fleck Dance Theatre, 207 Queens Quay West, 3rd Floor Queen’s Quay Terminal Bldg.
Tickets: $15-$49, Box office: 416 973-4000 or HarbourfrontCentre.com
Cast and Crew:
QUESTO BUIO FEROCE World Premiere, Rome, 2006
Conceived and directed by Pippo Delbono
With Dolly Albertin, Gianluca Ballarè, Raffaella Banchelli, Bobò, Pippo Delbono, Lucia Della Ferrera, Ilaria Distante, Gustavo Giacosa, Simone Goggiano, Mario Intruglio, Nelson Lariccia, Julia Morawietz, Gianni Parenti, Pepe Robledo
Set designer: Claude Santerre
Light designer: Robert John Resteghini
Technical manager: Fabio Sajiz
Chief machinist: Gianluca Bolla
Machinist: Mattia Manna Sound: Angelo Colonna
Light: Orlando Bolognesi
Wardrobe: Elena Giampaoli Set and
costumes: realized in the workshops of Theatre de la Place-Liège
Complete information about performance times and tickets is available through the Harbourfront Centre box office by phone at 416-973-4000, or online at harbourfrontcentre.com
Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage 2010-11 gratefully acknowledges the support of Department of Canadian Heritage, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council and Intercontinental, the official host hotel of World Stage.
ABOUT HARBOURFRONT CENTRE
Harbourfront Centre is an innovative, non-profit cultural organization which provides internationally renowned programming in the arts, culture, education and recreation, all within a collection of distinctive venues on a 10-acre site it operates in the heart of Toronto’s downtown waterfront.
