With a romance set in Naples, Italy, one might expect poetic language, elaborate costumes and heartbreakingly beautiful heroes and heroines. There might be some obstacles in the way of the lovers, but they will only turn these moments into opportunities to recite impassioned meditations on love. In David Grimm's "The Miracle at Naples," however, these tortured soliloquies are along the lines of "Who do you have to f--k to find some love in this world?!"
Set in 16th century Naples, the bawdy comedy follows the antics of a troupe of Commedia dell'Arte players who set up camp outside the home of a lovely, randy young woman, Flaminia (played by Christina Pumariega), left in the care of her elderly yet outspoken nurse (Alma Cuervo).
Though the script is unmistakably modern -- contemporary curses and rude phrases are passed around like mono in a freshman dorm -- Grimm has incorporated Commedia dell'Arte heavily into his script. This theater form was once outrageously popular in Europe, presenting the public with accessible and physical comedy. It consists of mostly improvised scenarios featuring stock, masked characters and is heavy on crude slapstick humor. Though largely unscripted, many of the slapstick jokes in Commedia dell'Arte were rehearsed gags called "lazzi." Grimm has incorporated lazzi into his script, allowing actors to experiment through rehearsal and improvise humorous bits for themselves in the true spirit of Commedia.
The unscripted parts are not the only places where humor is found, though. There are many hilarious lines such as the hypocritically lovesick Giancarlo's (Alfredo Narciso) exchange with the loveably opportunistic Don Bertino Fortunato (Dick Latessa). Don Bertino says, "You're a joke," and Giancarlo responds, "No, you're a joke. I'm the punchline."
The show's plot is zany and shallow, but this is not a plot-driven show. The conflict revolves around the sexual frustrations and transgressions of the characters occurring on the feast day of the patron saint of Naples, San Gennaro. According to a legend that persists today, several times a year the hardened blood of the martyred saint liquefies in the hands of a priest. The most famous of these days of liquefaction is on the saint's feast day. In the play, his blood remains congealed on the holiday, sending thousands of Neapolitans into much consternation and preventing the Commedia troupe from performing and earning any money.
As the leader and patriarch of the troupe, Don Bertino uses this unexpected time of idleness to beg for food, pursue Flaminia's nursemaid and generally provide humorous commentary on the goings-on around him. Latessa successfully plays this morally ambiguous yet hilarious role, bouncing from subplot to subplot with ease and generally providing a main character for the audience to cling to amid all the confusion on stage.
Running behind Don Berino to pick up the slack is La Piccola (Lucy DeVito), his tiny, generally unnoticed and hard-working daughter. DeVito is a highlight of the production, playing her character with appropriate amounts of gravity and pure humor.
Though the play is consistently entertaining, the climax in the second act -- the play the troupe is finally able to perform once the blood liquefies -- is something of a letdown. Until the actors actually have to perform Commedia dell'Arte, they weave it into the script in subtle and tasteful ways including a particularly comical exchange between two members of the troupe, Tristano (Pedro Pascal) and Matteo (Gregory Wooddell), that uses modern language with patent Commedia head turns. Unfortunately, though, once the play-within-a-play is actually underway, the actors are not quite able to keep the energy and pace high enough to entertain as thoroughly as they had up until that point. The script doesn't help either, ending with an almost too predictable plot twist. What should have been a dramatic climax disappoints.
In "The Miracle at Naples," the small cast works with a generally clever script to provide solid entertainment for two hours. Beneath the bawdy humor can be found some serious themes about love, reality and the all-too-usual disconnect between the two.
