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written and directed by Marisa Buffone

ArtworldStudioProductions, Toronto Fringe Festival, The Italian Cultural Institute, 496 Huron St., Toronto

July 4-15, 2018

Marisa Buffone’s play about the gods Venus and Mars has about 20 minutes of content bloated through pointless song and dance to 50 minutes. At least it's not 90 minutes, as listed in the Fringe Program. 

Supposedly a statue of Mars and Venus has just arrived from Italy and has been installed at the Italian Cultural Institute behind which the action takes place. The statue come alive and Mars and Venus (Italian actors Aldo Milea and Ilairia Passeri) repeat ad nauseam who they are and what they represent.

In Buffone’s contradictory view Mars is the god of war but also guarantees peace between nations. Venus is the goddess of erotic love, but through extremely contorted logic Buffone also makes her a supporter of the #MeToo movement.

This is all the more bizarre since Buffone shows Vulcan (Drew Chale), Venus’s husband, catching the adulterous couple in a net in flagrante delicto to exhibit their shame to the other gods.   

The rest of the time is larded with live and recorded songs from the 1930s to 90s to which Milea and Passeri feebly improvise dance moves.

Most embarrassing is when Buffone herself provides off-key renditions of such classics as “A Fine Romance” and “We’ll Meet Again”.

©Christopher Hoile

Note: This review appeared in NOW Magazine on July 8, 2018.

Photo: Aldo Milea and Ilairia Passeri. ©2018 Marisa Buffone.

For tickets, visit https://fringetoronto.com.