Adapation of Fellini film gets lost in translation

Federico Fellini’s 1954 classic film "La Strada" is an odd choice to turn into a play. The title translates into "The Road," creating a bit of a challenge in staging the sense of movement over distances that comes with traveling on the road.

Director Benjamin Sota makes a bold stab at it with the latest "Primetime" production at the University of Hawaii’s Earle Ernst Lab Theatre. Sota, a master of fine arts directing candidate, and fellow MFA candidate Josephine Calvo translated the stage adaptation of Fellini’s film by Tullio Pinelli and Bernardino Zapponi.

Set in Italy post-World War II, "La Strada" tells the story of Gelsomina, a young, innocent girl sold from her home to be the assistant of the roadshow performer Zampano, an overbearing hulk of an egotistical "artist." The relationship between the two characters develops into a complicated web of love, hurt, ownership, loyalty and redemption. When the pair hooks up with a traveling circus, Gelsomina inadvertently creates a love triangle of sorts with another performer, Il Matto, which begins the trio’s eventual spiral to a tragic downfall.

Most of the cast struggles with the burden of keeping up an Italian accent. Seeing "La Strada" in the English language is also a bit jarring, but both leads handle their broadly drawn characters commendably. Walt S. Gaines as the monstrous Zampano growls with spitting anger for two hours and Calvo makes the wide-eyed Gelsomina fetching in her naiveté.

Actor Marcus Quiniones, as a member of the circus troupe and master of ceremonies, does a Herculean job of keeping the proceedings lively. His improvisational antics before the show involving pantomime, audience harassment and the task of screwing in a dead light bulb on the set are hilarious. (Be advised, if you have clown phobias, this is definitely not the show for you.) But the overt humor he brings seems at odds with the sense of nihilism that inevitably comes with the story.

Sota’s artistic direction is a marvel, especially given the confines of the theater. Calling on his experience being raised in a family of circus performers and touring with his own circus for several years, he employs clever sets and effects to re-create the big top.

Large banners of cloth, upon which images are projected, rise up to the ceiling on pulleys to make up the octagonal performance area. The action incorporates "Avenue Q"-style furry puppets and the inspired use of shadow puppetry to portray tightrope walkers and performers flying out of cannons.

Audiences unfamiliar with Fellini’s film will probably be a bit confused and very challenged to follow along, while fans of the movie may be thrown off by the narrative change of the tale being told from the traveling circus’ point of view. One rude theatergoer complained loudly about wanting to leave before the intermission, while another admitted to her partner that she was "pretty lost" about what was going on.

This "La Strada" is obviously not for everybody. But then, neither are Fellini’s films.