"An Italian In Love Is Bizarre. Everything In Italy Is Bizarre."

To start the class Philippe got five women to enter on stage, approach a river and start washing their clothes. "Last night was a fantastic party. At least one of you had good sex." So all the girls were in a good mood. And then an actor playing Il Capitano enters on stage in a frantic state having lost his own army, but soon spots the five sexy women and changes his focus. The scene goes from there...

Those that gave this a go didn't give enough. Or didn't enter in major. Or rushed. "You can take five minutes to approach the women."

We then tried it with five men and a female Il Capitano. This was funny with men washing together - each of us actors playing off each other - but the women that tried Il Capitano struggled to take the space either.

Philippe then held auditions to see if we could find someone that might be able to play Il Capitano! We had to come out, accompanied by Philippe's music of choice, and profess our love for Claire. I went first: with a tight butt (three umbrellas) and puffed up chest, a big growling laughy voice with an awful attempt at a Spanish accent. I danced around a bit, and swooshed my little sword, made subtle sexual references with the way I moved, and made things a bit pompous. "You are selected...But he needs to be more upperclass. Less laughing, more snob."

I was one of two and a half selected. It requires a lot. You have to take the stage, take major, be bold with your body, movement and voice, whilst also focussing on all the technical things and having fun!

He is elegant, had a good education - a bit upper class. Sexually fueled but controlled. Spanish.

~

Be Bizarre: "An Italian in love is bizarre. Everything in Italy is bizarre."

"You have to do a lot of things. A LOT. It's Italy. You can't imagine what happens in this country. It's so funny."

Philippe worked a bit with Andre as Il Capitano and guided him towards doing a lot, and being bizarre: "Dance...Make the sound of an elephant...imitate Spanish men...STOP!...Laugh!...Dance."

SEX SEX SEX: "Italians...they are ALL sex maniacs...look at the president."

~

"You don't show the mask...We see you but not the mask."

"We need to see the fantasy of the actor."

"She tickles my imagination? Or...nothing?"

"You have to be fascinating when you enter...you arrive and POFF you have to do something...If we don't love you in five seconds we will never love you."

"For sure you have to be light. Heaviness stops our imagination."

"If I shout [at you] you see something human coming. We have to see something human...They are beautiful, actors. They give beautiful things to the character."

~

Improvise Pantalone in the shit. He has a big problem!

(This kind of improvisation in this form is called a 'Lazzi').

He needs to be old and frail. Or at least to appear this way.

When I tried: "everything is not too bad...but the actor is an idiot" (an idiot because I forgot fixed points and therefore didn't show the mask).