Left – Vashti Hughes and Vittorio. Photo – Roslyn SharpLess than fifteen minutes into Piccolo Tales, writer/performer Vashti Hughes says “I love Kings Cross.”
Her show is indeed a love letter to Kings Cross and to Vittorio, proprietor of the Piccolo Bar, the fabled cafe which gives the show its name and setting.
Vashti channels Vittorio, and creates character alchemy, presenting a spooky rendition of the cranky old bugger.
But it's not only her rendition of Vittorio, Kings Cross' “Living Heritage”, she nails.
The alchemy continues with a cavalcade of characters from Abe Saffron, to drag queens, prostitutes, drug dealers, drug users, an American soldier on R & R, and the new gentry who are finding purchase in the place.
The piece is all about the sense of place and this spectacularly site specific play is enhanced by the staging of this half century saga in and around the property of the Piccolo Bar.
Sit inside, directly outside, looking in, or across Roslyn Street, looking over, (audio aided by a set of headphones), and witness the walls talking through Vashti Hughes' distillation of Vittorio's memories down the decades.
The village vaudeville is augmented by the ambiance of the locale – foot traffic, police patrols, tourist buses and taxis, a passing parade of the day to day, night to night, inhabitants and habituates of the Cross.
Vashti uses all the spaces – the cafe, the footpath, the road, the park opposite – in a vital and virtuoso performance. She sings, she dances, she struts and prances, and leads an impromptu singalong made up of a litany of Vittorio's betes noir. That's a polite way of saying what pisses him off, and a whole lot more polite than the title of the song! It's as rough and ready, raucous and raunchy as the Cross itself.
Piccolo Tales is presented in two acts, with Vittorio doing double duty of heckler in the first act then kicking off the second with with a fey and fabulous Madama Butterfly and joining Vashti in a fine and equally fabulous finale featuring a duet of Falling In Love Again.
Piccolo Tales should be required viewing for all denizens of the Cross and highly recommended to the thousands of visitors who flock there. Small venue, small window – season ends March 31 – but big on heart, history and humour.
PICCOLO TALES
by Vashti Hughes
Directed by James Winter
Venue: Piccolo Bar | 6 Roslyn St, Potts Point
Dates: 16 Feb – 31 March 2016
Tickets: $40 – $20
Bookings: www.piccolotales.eventbrite.com.au
