A little-known piece of Italian-Canadian history is coming to life thanks to a new production at Shadbolt Centre this week.
BellaLuna Productions is bringing FRESCO to the stage at the Shadbolt's James Cowan Theatre March 21 to 24.
The play by Lucia Frangione tells the story of Rosina, a struggling performance artist who inherits her grandparents' crumbling house in East Vancouver.
Rosina must decide whether to sell the home - knowing it will likely get bulldozed - or keep it. She's pulled between the spirit of her Nonna, who urges her to keep it, and the real-life voice of her father, who tells her to sell it and not romanticize the family's history.
Along the way, Rosina journeys into her family's past and the generation of secrecy around the Second World War.
As the Canadian government enacted the War Measures Act, some of the country's Italian population was interned and moved away from their families; others were branded as "enemy aliens" and forced to report to police on a monthly basis.
It's part of a project by the Italian Cultural Centre in Vancouver, called A Question of Loyalty, which uses the play, a book and a museum exhibition to explore this part of Vancouver's Italian-Canadian history.
FRESCO is onstage at the Shadbolt Centre March 21 to 24, with evening shows at 8 p.m. and matinees at 2 p.m. on March 22 and 24. Tickets are $15 to $20. Call the box office at 604-205-3000 or see www.shadboltcentre.com.
It then moves to the Cultch, 1895 Venables St. in Vancouver, for shows from March 28 to 31. Evening performances are at 8 p.m., with 2 p.m. matinees on March 29 and 31. Tickets are $15 to $25. Call 6042511363 or see www.thecultch. com.
For more information about the production or the Question of Loyalty project, see www.bellaluna.ca.
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