by Tracey Paleo, Gia On The Move

The Snail was actually a gorgeous and timely piece which dealt, chapter by chapter, with he life of a boy who eventually becomes a women.

In the most Italian I’ve communicated with in years, I spoke with the director and some of the cast after the show.  They wanted to tell a graceful, heartfelt, sympathetic comic story that English-speaking audiences would understand.  Only thing is, the translation and ultimately the direction came across heavy-handed. And many of us in the audience agreed, this show would have been much more potent in its original form, in Italian with super-titles. 

There were some culturally hilarious moments, but they quickly devolved into unending depression, confusion and crying.  And there was an extraneous character no one could figure out even with the post show explanation.

The story ends on a beautiful note however. Our lead character dies, but through the unbelievable accident of getting a woman pregnant as a young man in her early days, she leaves a child behind.

There is a chance for a new beginning and we are left with hope.