No Shakespeare ***

Gaudeamus Artistic Company’s stated intention is to offer the Italian community in Scotland the means to reconnect with or discover Italian culture through theatre. Indeed, the excellent cast symbolise the cultural links between Scotland and Italy, not to mention the iconic and charming venue Valvona & Crolla, a visit being highly recommended at any time of the year.

The set immediately suggests literary endeavours, with piles of books everywhere, some immediately identifiable as Italian classics.

We meet Domenico Serino, Erika Boetto and Eva D’Amico (also the director), who are due to perform imminently at Edinburgh Festival Fringe. They playfully debate the merits of different ideas, in essence performing a series of vignettes, as they decide on the format upon which they will settle.

Among those debated and, in some instances, discarded, are works by Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni, the noted children’s writer Gianni Rodari, Rosso di San Secondo, Alessandro Baricco, Eduardo De Filippo, and last, but hardly least, the influential literary figure of Luigi Pirandello.

Serino intermittently tries and, spoiler alert, fails to convince the others to embrace Alessandro Manzoni’s The Betrothed, derided as a “student’s nightmare”.

These scenes are delivered in Italian, with English surtitles, ensuring that the array of English and Italian speakers can all enjoy the proceedings. It is a fusion of drama, comedy, physical theatre, storytelling and song. The highlight is perhaps their performance of Achille Campanile’s La Quercia Del Tasso (Tasso’s Oak), in which the many different meanings of the word ‘tasso’ blend together comically and at rapid-fire pace.

As is generally the case with vignettes, some land more easily than others; however, the joy of the show lies in the cast’s charming chemistry.

So why is the title No Shakespeare? The production leans into the idea that you can find the Bard everywhere at Edinburgh; but here, on the other hand, they will serve up some lesser-known Italian cultural gems. A worthy ideal indeed.

But the last word lies with the message of Domenico Modugno’s Three Bandits and Three Donkeys: if someone is willing to listen, literature and art will always live on. We’re listening.