A Flower Of The Lips

When then-solicitor, Valentino Musico met director Ira Seidenstein, it was fate. Musico desperately wanted to be a writer. He had written a play. Seidenstein read it, “thought it was incredible”, and they produced it. They are now on their fourth collaboration with Musico’s deeply personal, bio-historical play, A Flower Of The Lips.

Set in a small village in Calabria, Italy, during World War I, the play tells the true story of Musico’s great-grandfather, Bruno Aloi, a government official who is conflicted by the task of having to locate and arrest deserters who are also his relatives. The title, according to Seidenstein, “was actually the last thing that was said from Valentino’s great grandfather when he died. So it was a family thing that was passed on.” Apparently, nobody knew what it meant. It was his “Rosebud”.

Musico researched intensely, visiting the Italian village, copying documents, deciphering hand-written ledgers, bringing the material home and translating it, and then somehow creating a dramatic work. Seidenstein explains Musico was driven by a sense of homage to his father, who had often said to him: “Someday you should make a play about your great grandfather.”

Sadly, Musico’s father died before the play was completed.

Seidenstein describes the play as metatheatre. There are 11 characters played interchangeably by five actors who are on stage, in chairs for the entire duration. They stand in turn to deliver their lines. The gender parts are mixed.

“I feel, in acting, in theatre, that any actor, in my aesthetic, can play any role,” explained Seidenstein.

It is a minimalist production with no sets, however, there is an impressive backdrop painted by renowned artist, Vince Vozzo. It’s the second time Vozzo has painted a backdrop for them (last time on the wall, this time on a canvas so they could keep it).

Despite the subject matter, Seidenstein says there is quite a bit of humour in the play and that audiences will have a balanced emotional experience:

“I would call it tragic-comic, like a Beckett but funnier.” (RB)

Sep 25−29 (4pm Sun, 7pm Tues-Thurs). Imperial Hotel, 35 Erskineville Road, Erskineville. $22-$27. Tickets & info: www.sydneyfringe.com

BY RITA BRATOVICH