Un Spettacolo

I was taken to a theatre in Testaccio, on the other (west) side of the Tiber river, where I was to see "Un Spettacolo". This was a series of three comedy skits, and I guessed like most things in Italian life, the title "A Spectacular" could be an exaggeration from reality.

On the stage was a rectangular backdrop, cut out in the middle. The writing across the top read something like: "The policeman and the bastard", so I gathered. Two men come on stage, one is dressed like an Italian verison of Sherlock Holmes, the other is in motorcycle gear and hops on the motorcycle. The entire scene is framed by the backdrop; the writing above is a movie name, and the scene resembles a movie poster.

I guess from here what happened was something like this: The two men (and a dwarf barman who entered shortly after) were acting within the poster. From time to time, a girl would walk past the front of the poster on her phone (as all italian girls seem to be!) talking with a friend in a strong roman accent. Of course all the characters in the poster had to freeze whenever she looked in their direction. And so it went.

I was later told that one of the keys to the 'comedy' aspect of the Spettacolo was the change in language during the play. They began with a heavy roman accent (and thus I understood nothing) and finished with a heavy sicilian accent (and thus I understood even less).
Ah well, it was entertaining nonetheless!