And finally we have arrived at the famous Italian theatre in the center of Milan, and have been performing already for a week!

This is a very quick blog entry just to tell you what is happening here in the capital of northern Italy!

Modena was absolutely wonderful, the Storchi Theatre was so big that we had to double the force of our voice for the kids at the back, and what a show when the house lights went on! We are constantly changing typology of venues, and we go from the most overwhelming theatres to the smallest spaces and every time the effect of the show is different.

Now at the Piccolo, the audience is sitting all around our sides and the show has become slightly more intimate, having the possibility to actually sit with the young ones and speak to them face to face. My heart balloon finally has a greater effect flying about on to the people and arousing great movement and awe...

Soon the other actors of the Chariot are arriving for the next shows, and we will be rehearsing this week coming. Get Me Out of Here is starting at the end of next week and also the long awaited Shakespeare Vs. Shakespeare. But this time, I won't be helping out with the Italian...!

Romeo & Juliet are fine and have been wandering about Milan not very sure if they should do the classic shopping or enjoy the first Spring sun that has been shining in the last few days even if the cold is still wandering in the streets.

If you ever come to Milan, after you have visited the Duomo (a most amazing piece of art!!) and bought a nice dress or pair of fancy shoes, I strongly advise the most wonderful chocolate bar around: CHOCOLAT.

Tomorrow, back to tell our tragic story, so I'll leave you to send me some comments!

I'll to my truckle bed, for the field bed is too cold for me to sleep in!"

Romeo, Humours, Madman, Passion, Lover!

Here I'm back for a brand new blog for you all. I'm very sorry for being so neglectic, but having a weakness for the south, I got held up in sightseeing.

Since we have been in Mofletta, in that wonderful land of Puglia, we have performed in Lecce and are now continuing with the second part of our tour in the north of Italy. At the moment we are sleeping in our Modena Truckle Beds, and visiting the most wonderful theatres I have ever seen!

I'll leave the description of the south with its beautiful fields of olive trees, white houses and churches to the other four, and concentrate on what has been going on here.

After our show in Correggio, we had a nice chat with about 150 students all sitting in the auditorium and who were supposed to do an active workshop with us. So we kept to an easier form of answering questions.

I love to hear what the young ones ask and quite often it's on the music we use, the scenes we have chosen, how we agree to the eternal love answer and on the origins of my mask.

Well, I think it is time to give you a glimpse on our soundtrack which is quite simple but particular:

• John Metcalfe :  95  dall'album The Inner Line.
• The Prodigy : Breath dall'album The Fat of the Land
• Hildegard Von Bingen

So here we are, arrived in the south after a game of poker in the airport, where Romeo showed that noto only he is good at fencing, but even good at winning at cards... Which makes a paradox out of winners at cards, losers in love.

As for myself, I have other cards up my sleeve.

We stuffed ourselves with pizza before leaving and flew on cupid's wings long the « sivale » to Bari in the Puglia region of Italy. What awaited us was a nice shower of rain and two smiling actor-friends Francesco and Pantaleo (an ancient Greek name derived from the Greek colonies here in the south) with their cars, ready to take us to our accomodation.

This is the website of the company which host us: Il Carro dei Comici

By the way, reviews are out from the Piacenza newspaper Libertà and I've asked them to give us the electronic version plus some good photos of me, well and a couple of R&J too of course, let's not forget them. They will be posted here soon. I'm particularly proud of the comment on my special hearted t-shirt  for I am seriously thinking of starting a brand: Red hearted black t-shirts and on the label « made by Mercutio ». Of course after this tour I will start « Mercutio's World Wedding Tours  » and « Mercutio's Gastronomy Holidays: where love matters ».

Did I mention our interview to the high-school paper? A couple of groupies (Paola, Giulia and boyfriend) offered us a drink and asked us questions for their local school newspaper called The Mente (in Italian you pronounce Demente wich means « idiot »). After all the why's and what's and who's I would like to share here my definite Top 5 Mercutio's songs:

1. The Doors  - Love her Madly
2. Velvet Underground – Venus in Furs
3. Joplin - Take another little piece of my heart
4. Eels - Novocain for the Soul (great video)
5. Roxy Music - Beauty Queen

Ok then, « I'll to my  truckle bed. For this field bed is too codl for me to sleep in. »

Finally some time to write a few lines of our adventure around the peninsula.

We are already at day 4 and have been re-doing our death now for the 6th time, of course arriving at the same conclusion each time. We did it once and got the idea, but now are obviously doing it so all the young adolecents, as Prospero would call them, can understand too.

Up to now, the audience has been as awaited, which means quite noisy at times, especially when we kick into our second part of the show: the tragedy. As usual, kids don't want life to be a tragedy preferring when Romeo jumps among them calling for Juliet on the balcony, or myself imitating that good woman of the nurse.

But in a way or the other, they are all jumping in their seats, either for exitment or for impatience: I think they really like it in the end!

My italian is jumpy at times (just paranoia after my Italian lessons with Enrico Petronio), but up to now, all the kids think I was an exceptionally good student in foreing languages at high school...

workshops are great fun, and we had even a bunch of groupies giving us a tour around the city. They were made up of the Italian school teacher (a wonderful old lady who even showed us where the local cobbler was for my stinky doc martens boots) and two of her class who were happy to sip a coffee and hear me going on about what I think of love. And you all know that for such a tender thing, it's just too great an oppression.

But of course Romeo would constantly change his mind on which young maid he liked best asking me for advice... Juliet was busy taking photos of the balconies around the piazza.

Here are some photos I took with Ali the Light-Man's camera at a pizzeria. Great stuff. Yes, definitely it was a good thing that mr. Polo went to the east bringing all that know how on how to make pasta, I should insert that when I talk about people not riding about in horses anymore.

The show this morning (Thursday) was strange and we were all a bit tired... So for tonight's show with the adults and all the important people we will have a good sip of coffee!

But, being tired, I need a nap, so....

Good Night, I'll to my truckle bed,
For this field bed is too cold to sleep in!