Colchester Fringe Festival 2025
Tales of the Boudoir
Grand Guignol de Milan
Genre: Theatre
Venue: The Dragonfly Lounge
Festival: Colchester Fringe Festival
Low Down
An exaggerated style is further complicated by a loud soundtrack that takes away the power of the stories.
Review
From Milan comes Grand Guignol de Milan, with this collection of three vignettes that look at the dark side of prostitution in 19th century Milan. Performed at the new venue The Dragonfly Lounge, the show had to contend with some technical issues. Perhaps this pushed the performances into the over-the-top area of acting, but the whole piece lacked naturalism, and while it raised many interesting points about misogyny and double standards, the extremely loud soundtrack meant I missed much of the dialogue.
The exaggerated style lends much to the comedic aspects of the show. In the first story, The Butcher, Giula Rachele Mazza and Lorenzo Andrea Paolo Balducci display very good slapstick, Mazza as a new, nervous employee, with Balcuddi a very menacing presence. This is utilized again in the second story, The Stranger, really bringing his brooding presence to the fore. The third and final story surrounds a scandal involving police and other figures of authority utilising the brothels services of male prostitutes, only for the same police officers to conduct raids and arrests on these institutions for the very same practices they were a part of. A hypocrisy only too common, still, in this world. The story stars the lead creator of the piece as a male prostitute and the tragedy that unfolds as a result of the police officer’s betrayal of their trust and confidentiality. Gianfilippo Maria Falsina Lamberti , creator of the company, plays the male prostitute, and politically this is very strong work. However, the star of the evening is Michelangiola Barbieri Torriani , who has perfect comedy timing and skills as a jaded, bitter prostitute. In fact, the strongest section of the play is when she interacts with the audience, brave in her choice of participants, but making good points about men in authority and hypocrisy. Here the music stopped, the lights came up a little, and a different way of presenting this show came through.
The dramatic elements certainly could have been handled with more subtlety, and the piece is overlong, providing several opportunities for it to end, yet continuing. It was frustrating to see elements that did work, but unfortunately did not come together to make a satisfying whole.
