Working miracles in the
Forum
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The Miracle Players have
filled a gap in the Roman summer by providing free outdoor entertainment
in English
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A scroll of cloth rolled down, with a snatch of
script on it. The laid-back, grinning audience of 300 read out with a
roar: “We don’t want war!”
The superpower (Rome) went to war anyway. The reason was clear: “Julius
Caesar,” the populace was informed, “would do anything to keep up the
flow of oil to Rome... Sorry, that should have read: ‘the supply of
grain’ to Rome.”
Laughter rippled through the crowd, and “Cleopatra” — the quick-fire,
lighthearted comedy production being staged every Tuesday and Friday by
the English-speaking “Miracle Players” amid the magic of the Roman Forum
— was under full sail.
The show began with a piece of market research. “How many of you are
Rome residents?” Surprisingly, arms shot up from almost half the crowd,
evidence of how hugely popular the company has become since its first
production in the Forum five years ago. This was an attempt to plug an
obvious gap in the Estate Romana — the absence until then of anything in
English in the packed programme of often top-notch, outdoor live
entertainment which has happily become the nightly hallmark of summer in
Rome. The miracle of the “Miracle Players” — all of them professionals —
is that, unlike most of the fare on offer, their play is free.
“What with all the tourists and so many of them bound together by the
English language, it was amazing that nobody was catering for them. And
you can see the need. In August, we get up to 500 people at each
performance,” said Eric Bassanesi, who plays Mark Antony and is half the
brain behind the project. Australian-born of Sicilian and Milanese
parentage, Bassanesi arrived in Italy at the age of 11. He did Italian
military service and then had six hard years of acting in Los Angeles.
The other half of the brain belongs to his Scottish girlfriend Denise
McNee — “There’s nothing Italian about me” — who has lived in Rome for
six years after a long time in the London fringe theatre. “There, I was
just one of many. Here, I’m one of a few.” |
| “Cleopatra”, played on and around the steps of the
church opposite the Mamertine Prison, runs for 40 minutes and is so
off-hand, the cast almost seem to be making up their lines as they go
along. “You’ve no idea what work went into making it look improvised,”
said McNee, a strutting Julius Caesar. The company started twice-weekly,
and then thrice-weekly, rehearsals way back in March.Cleopatra, who
first appeared in a rolled up, vertical, walking carpet, is played by
Giulia Bernardini, who recently starred as a new bride who had lost her
passport in the RAI police precinct series “Distretto di Polizia”. In
the Forum, she showed off the profile of her nose and, wiggling her
hips, remarked: “I may be a Queen of Egypt, but I am at bottom Greek you
know!” The crowd liked that bit. Bernardini is into dubbing as well, and
thinks English-speaking performers in Rome are lucky because of the
tasty chances they get. “A lot of people do their filming here nowadays
because it’s cheaper, and they often farm out small parts locally — to
us.” |
“Cleopatra” under full sail — a lighthearted comedy production in
English. |
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The players were all in white Roman tunics
with gold trim, including Octavius, Caesar’s adopted son who, thanks to
a very funny stratagem, managed to wheel the Roman fleet around
Cleopatra’s during the decisive sea battle at Actium. He is played by
30-year-old Rob Allyn, a relaxed product of the Suny Purchase drama
conservatory in New York. “I did acting in New York but it was tough. I
decided I wanted to enjoy my life and act as well. And this is the
place.” He also works as a tour guide.
His stage sister, Qctavia, is played by Dyanne White, another pro who,
together with McNee, has written as many as 80 commissioned episodes for
a new children’s series called “Rabbit” for the BBC. She is in Rome,
together with her husband Tim Adams and two small children, simply
because she loves the place.
They are all in the “Miracle Players” for the fun of it.
And the money? So far, their zany venture has failed to break even.
Though contributions are invited after the show — “such as your car keys
or that villa of yours on the Riviera” — the loot raked in still falls
short of the costs. Though blessed with the high-sounding patronage of
Rome city council and other bodies, none of these gives the “Miracle
Players” a dime in hard cash.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Bassanesi warned. “We’re not moaning or griping at
all. We do it because we enjoy it and because we believe that what we’ve
got going is an excellent investment for the future, not least because
we’re doing a service to the city.”
None in the audience that night would have doubted it for a minute.
23 July 2003- Wanted in Rome |
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