Theres a truly international flavour to this presentation by Teatro dei Borgia, written by Italian Natalia Capra, directed by her countryman Gianpiero Borgia and performed by Norwegian actress Annika Strohm.
This one woman show charts the story of a high class prostitute who decides to get married. Unfortunately on the day of her marriage proposal her madam blackmails her into serving one last client in order to create a political scandal. Strohm cleverly and entertainingly charts her attempts to keep both strands of her life separate.
Theres much to admire in this performance. Its warm and humorous, often moving and is played out against an exquisite white, gold and scarlet design by Alvisi/Kirimodo which is echoed in the stunning costumes (Giuseppe Avallonne). It also has interesting things to say about the way men and women relate and the pursuit of perfection in any walk of life: whenever we compromise about our nature we become more second rate.
The major problem with the show is the length. Strohm is not working in her own language which leads to the occasional fluff and longeurs in the story telling. A trim of about ten minutes would make the show easier on both the audience and the performer. Its worth seeing, however, for the production values alone.
