World Commedia dell' Arte Day (25/02/15) could not have been a more appropriate time to see The Royal Blood Bath. An Opera Regia performance from Commedia con Corinna, this time in collaboration with Werdna Theatre Productions. Corinna Di Niro or, more accurately, Dr. Corinna Di Niro, is the first person to gain a Ph.D. in Commedia dell’ Arte. Working alongside fellow actors Andrew Crupi, Mariana Dias & Jonny Lambert, they have formed a multi-cultural and talented foursome. My fellow drama students and ever so dramatic teacher watched the play at Concordia College in their ‘high class’ drama studio/stage. Dr. Di Niro stated the intention of preforming The Royal Blood Bath in Adelaide was to educate students and audience members on Opera Regia …show more content…
The play has everything from romance to tragic deaths, a true Opera Regia I must say. The play starts off on the funnier, more musical side of things with a hilarious ballade performed by the ever so talented Mr. Lambert. Incorporating modern themes but still keeping the classic Opera Regia style is what worked for me, not only could I relate to the modern aspects of the play I found myself pointing out things we had learnt about whilst studying this classic yet never aging comedy style. The play was defiantly entertaining for both students and teacher, I was amazed at how they managed to appeal to people form such a range of ages. What made it more entertaining was the fact that the play had no script and was 85% improvised, which led me waiting to see how they would use the audiences reaction in retaliation to their …show more content…
A weakness or downside in the cast’s acting I have figured was their difficulty to perform the variation of walks and actions of their characters. Another flaw I picked up on was the lack of diversity in characters, Mr. Crupi is an excellent actor but if I was to try and tell what character he was playing without him wearing any costume to indicate his character, I would have a hard time. Of course there wasn’t only flaws, the actors did some amazing things too. I applaud Mr. Lambert on his ability to change character completely, meaning voice, action and even emotion. The incorporation of a different language courtesy of Mrs. Dias, was very interesting, and Mr. Lambert’s ability to respond to her in a way we would understand what she’s saying is amazing. The chemistry between Dr. De Niro and Mr. Crupi was hilarious, combining his naturally funny demeanor and Dr. De Niro’s pristine acting made them a joy to watch. This is directed to all four actors, their voice projectile was amazing, and even if the theater was small I could tell if they were to preform somewhere larger their voices will defiantly reach across to the far back. Their ability to time and pause between laughter so nothing they say is missed must have been hard, who knows when the audience is going to laugh and for how