Riverside Studios – Johan Padan and the Discovery of the Americas
“It says a lot for Dario Fo’s script and Mario Pirovano’s remarkable performance that one can watch this long one-man show with a smile on one’s face throughout… The hyperactive Pirovano is very persuasive. Not only does he tell Padan’s story in broken but astonishingly fluent English, he impersonates everybody his hero comes across, as well as horses, pigs, a rainstorm and a firework display… This is a show which offers a master class in vocal and physical expression.”
Peter Hepple – The Stage, London
Melbourne – Johan Padan and the Discovery of the Americas
“His wonderful mode of performance encompasses an amusingly self-deprecating dialogue with his audience. Pirovano is the translator of Dario Fo’s text, and this performance is far more than the artless exercise in storytelling. In a sense, this is antitheatrical theatre, played by a man on a bare stage, without costuming or any other theatrical props. We place ourselves into the hands of a marvellous performer, who can make us laugh with a serious intent, and provides a very timely critique of the ugly habit of demonising and demeaning ‘inferior’ cultures.”
Helen Thompson – The Age, Melbourne
Hong Kong – Johan Padan and the Discovery of the Americas
“For me one of the most memorable performances of the highly successful Thirty Third Hong Kong International Arts Festival, was a piece of burlesque, irreverent and politically topical storytelling narrated by a one-man-band of an entertainer from Italy. The Festival offered some exceptional fare this year, but I stand by my choice, out of personal taste and experience.
In the irrepressible Mario Pirovano Fo has found the perfect interpreter for his farcical historical critique.”
Mike Ingham – International Association of Theatre Critics, Hong Kong
