Play at Sudbury's Italian Festival promises plenty of laughs

Italian festival play based on life in Sudbury Former Italian professor turned playwright Diana Collili discusses upcoming play being performed at the Caruso Club festival this weekend.

A play on Saturday at the 50th Societa Caruso Italian Festival is promising to deliver plenty of laughs.

“It’s called 'An Evening With the Masks,'" said Diana Collili of Sudbury’s Le Maschere Laurenziane.

“The Caruso Club asked us if we wanted to incorporate a play into the 50th anniversary of the Italian Festival at the Caruso Club.”

Collili said there are four vignettes from four past plays the actors will be incorporating into the production.

“The stories are from the West End, the Gatchell, Copper Cliff and are about a couple from Moonglo who go to Italy,” she said.

“We thought we have such a rich community, why not write and put them, the stories, on stage?”

The former Italian language professor at Laurentian University said some of the short plays are in Italian, but added that other portions of the vignettes are in English.

“We had to reflect the reality of the Italian community out there which means their kids speak English,” said Collili.

“The vignettes are about the various stages of the Italian immigration process.”

The vignettes have several cast members, including CTV’s Ian Campbell.

“He’s in the vignette that takes place in Italy,” said Collili.

“A young couple goes to Italy on their honeymoon, and in the scene we chose, he plays the grandpa, the Nonno."

Collili said the couple arrives in Italy with a bag of gifts for family members, and that is where the confusion begins.

She added the writers try to tell real-life stories that children of immigrants lived.

It is also the Italian theatre troupe’s 30th anniversary of performing for audiences.