Bad Connections? - Both Amusing & Insightful

Paul Constantino brings his considerable talents to the characterization of nine very different parts with his deft use of subtleties as in the way a woman will pluck facial hairs almost unconsciously.  At the outset, we are encouraged to “Stop, look and listen” and in doing so we can transcend the noisiness to find quiet and peace.  Which is easier said than done but Constantino holds our rapt attention.

Tawanda, a motherless child, mother to her four brothers and now pregnant with her second child is foul-mouthed and “direct”.  She loves Joey, the father of her children and himself a traumatized son and grandson who can’t stand his grandfather but can’t let him die. Woven tightly between these characters are people we recognize dealing with struggles we know.  We listen in on their resistance to listening.  

“There is only one and that is you.  Like one actor playing out many roles.”  Given the natural preponderance of one-person shows at the Fringes, this line is as amusing as it is insightful.  As the grandfather observes, “Bene, bene, bene”.