SUNDAY STORIES was a lovely experience. Created and presented by Elisa Cristallo, it was a Sydney Fringe outing for a show which takes its cues from events like The Moth or from The Strangers podcast but with a good old fashioned Aussie heart. Aussie/Italian heart maybe. True stories told by a charming raconteur who is warm and engaging, not to mention charming and funny. Quite a package. And reinforced by a gentle “I’m not going to pick on you if you need a wee” … or a beer! Just mosey on out.
We meet our hostess, she will have a couple of guests, in the truth-in-advertising Dive Bar. She has a vague plan to get chronological and we hear about a ‘need a bigger shoe’ encounter with a spider when she was little. We get to meet her parents and an older brother that we all pretty much recognise … the pratt! And we glean an unusual migrant background along the way. This becomes more obvious when Elisa morphs into her Nonna and we hear from the expert cook émigré and progenitor of Elisa’s wacky sense of humour if the representation is true. It seems to be, we trust her.
And that is the basis of the enjoyment of SUNDAY STORIES, Cristallo’s way of seeing is richly comic and she has a persona that is easily warmed to. Her stories ring of truth and of a way of seeing the world that is delightfully off kilter. Mower regret and robber relief to end the night shine inside a funny story which is beautifully drawn and delightfully delivered with cheerful self-effacing humour.
Cristallo has a strong understanding of shape in the work. All her stories, short or longer, are well crafted and evidently rehearsed with precision but presented with the spontaneity that an audience needs to enjoy the worlds she builds and her unique view of them. And she is a generous hostess with an obvious love for those around her.
Elisa also has her friends to amuse us when stand-up/ sit-downs Casandra and Jasmine each do a set. Cassandra has a Singaporean background and her dedicated planning is not considered aspirational at the schoolgirl sleepover when she plans her life…for definite! She is perky and girly and when she brings us up to the present day in a kind of timeline crisis, we totally relate to essay interuptus by virtue of a keeper of a bloke armed with ice-cream. Jasmine has a wry way about her and she, too, recounts real events from a life rare and special with a strong truth, sense of self and an effective reading of the funny side of remembered painful events.
SUNDAY STORIES has great potential. It takes itself away from traditional stand-up into a space where storytellers can choose their own style. Straight or odd, they can mix comedy and truthtelling and even politics, Nonna has a serious point to make about the current state of immigration policy in Australia, in a show which has heart and belly laughs.
SUNDAY STORIES played at the Sydney Fringe and you can see more at Elisa’s website, You Tube Channel and Facebook.
