The event I went to was a musical by The Teatro Tasso whilst on a school trip in Sorrento, on June 30th 2017. The musical is put on for tourists to experience Italian traditions, folk dancing, and two of Italy's most famous songs ('O Sole Mio' and 'Torna A Surriento'), and included some audience participation for those most willing.

The musical was a historically accurate love story about the daily life of four Southern Italians. Each person had their own scene, and so the show had 4 short intervals. Every one of the stories maintained an interesting plot line that was relatively easy to follow, considering the whole musical was in Italian. Throughout different songs the cast members would run out into the audience, playing drums, tambourines and with various props such as signs. For one of the dances, the cancan, members of the audience were invited up on stage to join them, creating a very fun and lively atmosphere. I have not watched any live musical before, let alone one that was as fun and upbeat as this! I would highly recommend watching this musical to anyone who gets the chance, as it was an unforgettable experience, and gave me a little insight into ancient Italy. 

I think what made the show so good was its liveliness. Through keeping the performance upbeat throughout, somehow even in the sad parts, it maintained the interest of the audience for its entirety. This was especially useful for many of the audience were not Italian, and so needed to follow closely in order to understand the plot. All the cast were very enthusiastic throughout, and the dances were amazing! The one thing i would change about this however would've been for the actors to have been a little bit more professional. Throughout the performance some of the dancers would be whispering to each other in the background (not intentionally for the scene), and the main narrator improvised a lot, leaving the other actors unsure what to do. This lead to an awkward silence at one point, which was recovered well however and made to look like it could have been intentional.

From this musical i have learnt a little bit of how Italy has been in the past, and some traditional Italian songs along with their dances ('O Sole Mio' and 'Torna A Surriento'). 

The picture is of a leaflet given out at the show.