By snoadmin
A bunch of strange-looking clowns made complete fools of themselves with slaps, dirty jokes, crying episodes and lewd gestures in “Zibaldone” Friday night in the Studio Theatre. In this play presented by the University Players, the audience just couldn’t stop laughing.
The clowns, who wore strange-looking masks over their white-painted faces, had names that were as strange as their masks like Brighella (Cham Nou), Columbina (Bri Price), Harlequino/Goldoni (Turner Munch), Pantalone (William Reed) and Zanni (Takuya Tsuyuki). These aren’t the happy clowns seen at the circus.
The clowns’ first word on stage in unison was “penis!” which left the audience both shocked and hysterical. One by one, they appeared on stage by climbing out of a trunk.
These clowns had their own unique captivating facial characteristics and personalities. For example, Zanni had a really long nose like Pinocchio and was the most caring and gentle of all. He was the concerned one if someone fell or felt sad. Brighella was a tough-looking clown who wore a black leather jacket and would look just right riding a Harley.
Director Orlando Pabotoy, assistant professor at Cal State Long Beach and an instructor at Studio Six clown school, did a great job turning the actors into clowns by teaching improvisation techniques. Pabotoy was trained by “Zibaldone’s” playwrite, Christopher Bayes.
The play was intended to comment on politics, economics and concerns in society, according to Pabotoy. “Zibaldone” was broken down into scenes that emphasized themes such as marriage, love, sex, money and fate. Pabotoy wanted to use comedy to explain these themes, without denying how messy life could be sometimes.
For example, Harlequino/Goldoni accidentally fell in the water, and he was not able to swim. He lost consciousness and began to drown. Zanni panicked, pulled him out of the water and performed CPR to revive him.
“You have to be prepared,” Zanni said.
This scene explained neighborly love and how people really do care about each other.
The same theme popped up in another scene where Harlequino/Goldoni tickled himself to death, falling unconscious on the floor. Saying “1, 2, 3 kick him!” Pantalone revived him. But Harlequino/Goldoni did this on purpose because he thought it would be funny for the other clowns to see him dead. The other clowns started to cry when they thought he had died.
In the play, Bayes wanted to address the idea that people sometimes stink. He did a great job twisting such a gross topic into a funny one.
Brighella had the guts to introduce “caca milk,” which he liked, but no one else would try any. Additionally, Brighella joked about farting from eating too much food. Clarice was blunt with Harlequino/Goldoni when she said, “You smell like poop!”
The drums would boom when the clowns fell or slapped each other. There was also piano in the background, but the drums took over during most of the play.
The male and female clowns exhibited romantic relationships each other. Clarice and Harlequino/Goldoni had their own handshake in the form of sexual gestures. At one time, Harlequino/Goldoni was wearing a lacy purple bra on top of his suit and he didn’t care if anyone laughed at him. At times, the clown couples danced to the music together, which was very amusing.
The play ended nicely when each clown took off their masks in the sound of applause.
“Zibaldone” runs Tuesdays to Saturdays at 8 p.m. in the Studio Theatre. On Oct. 31, show time is 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 for general admission and $12 for seniors and students with valid ID. To purchase tickets or for more information call 562-985-5526.
