This aimless pop-rock musical about the corrupt former Italian PM is more of a ho-hum minestrone of ideas than a bunga-bunga romp. Ricky Simmonds and Simon Vaughan, the former actors responsible for the book, music and lyrics, want to provide an exploration of power rather than a songbook biography, but end up doing neither.
The show has a lively vulgarity, a few good numbers and a democratic(-ish) heart: seven of the nine actors supporting Sebastien Torkia’s spivvy-grinning, too-young Berlusconi, get time in the spotlight. But it’s also fatuous, repetitive and has the worst set I’ve seen in years: a steep assemblage of steps and rostra that actively hampers the performers. Director James Grieve invariably favours energy over coherent purpose. But – *exaggerated Italian shrug* – with this material, what else can he do?
