Juggle Me Not brings commedia dell'arte to Metro Vancouver parks this summer
The farce is by Wandering Wagon Theatre, a new micro commedia dell’arte company presented by Axis Theatre
Juggle Me Not comes to various Greater Vancouver parks this summer. Masks by Gina Bastone. Featuring (left to right) Karthik Kadam, Brittany Cope, and Holly Collis Handford. Photo by Cassandra Bourchier.
Juggle Me Not is by Wandering Wagon Theatre presented by Axis Theatre. Surrey Civic Theatres hosts Juggle Me Not July 23 at 7 pm and July 24 at 2 pm at the Glades Woodland Garden as part of its Summer POP! (Performances Outdoors in Parks) Series; tickets are on a sliding scale starting at $5. Juggle Me Not also runs at various Metro Vancouver parks on select dates throughout the summer for free.
VANCOUVER THEATRE ARTIST Susan Bertoia describes herself as being one of those kids who was always doing shows in her backyard for family and friends while growing up. Fast forward to post-secondary studies at UBC, and, at the very end of her four-year Bachelor in Fine Arts in Theatre Acting program, the daughter of Italian immigrants was introduced to commedia dell’arte. She had found her people and her place.
“It was literally like a penny dropped: this was a beautiful fusion of my passion for Italian culture and for theatre,” Bertoia tells Stir by phone. “After that, I knew what I wanted to do.”
Also known as “Italian comedy”, commedia dell'arte is a comedic theatrical presentation that dates back to the 16th century, when actors would travel in troupes and perform on temporary stages, usually in piazzas but also on city streets, in courts, and, sometimes, even in palaces. Music, mischief, dance, song, trickery, dialogue, slapstick, improvisation, and more all played into the works’ overarching humour.
Bertoia went on to train at schools that specialize in Italian mask theatre, including Ill Piccolo Teatro di Milan and those dates Blue Lake, California’s Dell'Arte International—School of Physical Theatre; she took the renowned Donato Sartori international master mask-making workshop. Her fondness for the genre grew deeper.
“I jokingly say it’s not a form of theatre; it’s a way of life,” Bertoia says. “I eat, drink, and live it. My process is really who I am on a cultural level and even on an artistic, spiritual level.”
Bertoia, who’s a director, writer, educator, and mother of three, is now embarking on what she calls a dream project. She’s the creative director of Wandering Wagon Theatre, a newly formed local commedia dell’arte troupe presented by Axis Theatre. The group creates theatrical productions through mask work, improvisation, movement, clown, and music, and it’s launching with a series of outdoor performances throughout Metro Vancouver all summer.
Wandering Wagon Theatre was created through Axis Theatre Company’s inaugural Commedia in the Park Program with the support of Canada Summer jobs. The “micro company” is designed to give young theatre artists and administrators a stepping stone to build their theatre careers. Juggle Me Not, which Bertoia wrote and directed, came about as part of a BC Arts Council Pivot Grant.
The family-friendly show is inspired by a French fairy tale called The Little Juggler. In Bertoia’s adaptation, a plague-ridden troupe travels in search of mirth, love, and lost members. Chef Pulcinella, who is cursed by his larger-than-life deceased wife, must marry off his only daughter, Isabella, who has several unlikely suitors vying for her hand (and her Vitamix). The improv aspect means no two shows will be the same, and in true commedia dell’arte form, the cast will be setting up the stage in advance out in the open (and tearing it down afterward); audiences will see the performers putting on and taking off masks and doing set changes as part of the piece.
“The magic is the magic of belief, of your imagination,” Bertoia says.
Susan Bertoia.
The performing company includes emerging artists Brittany Cope, Conor Meadows, Damion LeClair, Erin Purghart, Holly Collis Handford, and Karthik Kadam.
Bertoia, who’s an adjunct professor at UBC teaching acting and performance and who conducts creative projects with schools through ArtStarts, describes commedia dell’arte as the precursor to sit coms; there are stock characters such as the “young lover; the frantic father; the rich guy; the poor lover; the one who wants love, money, sex, or fame”, Bertoia says. “It’s based on those human drives, which I find fascinating.”
Without wanting to give too much away, Bertoia says while Juggle Me Not is a playful tale, it has deeper meaning stemming from the original story, in which an orphan has no gift to offer a statue of the Virgin Mary except for his ability to juggle.
Coming out of COVID, she became interested in giving back to the community, beyond lip service, and asked herself: What can I give my community?
“I can give the gift of laughter,” she says. “I loved that idea that the smallest thing such as juggling—or something you do that you think is nothing—is an amazing gift, an amazing offer. What’s your gift? What is it you do that you love…and what does that mean to have a gift and to share that gift?
“This is a troupe making people laugh together in a park, and there are no barriers,” she says. “I really do believe some people who may have never seen theatre will be seeing it for first time. You don’t need to know what commedia is to be engaged in a beautiful story . With commedia dell’arte, you bring it to the people, as opposed to getting them to come to you. I’m hoping we see more of this.”
For more information, see Axis Theatre.
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