Ensemble of The Lovesick Lambs of Lombardi | Photo by Nate Colitto
I’d never seen a piece of commedia dell’arte before now. I’ve read about it, of course. Like Brecht, Greek tragedy, and Shakespeare, it’s part of the Theatre History 101 package. It always sounded like something that would irritate me. And I was right! But that’s not the art form’s fault, it’s just not my bag. That said, I do greatly admire what this young and ambitious ensemble have put together as scrappy writer-performer-producers.
Though I struggled with it, The Lovesick Lambs of Lombardi, presented by Cooped Up With Tom, is a whole vibe and this charismatic troupe is fully committed to its nonsense. The enthusiasm is undeniably infectious and I did, by the end, find myself falling under its spell. I’m not entirely sure if my sensibilities were simply beaten into submission or if the later material, with the caricatures more fully established, was genuinely more compelling.
With only minimal props—some baskets, blue fabric and a bunch creatively represented sheep—this ensemble (Cooper Bilton, Shelayna Christante, Karly Friesen, Colton Gobbo, Tom Keat, Adrian Marchesano, Henry Oswald Peirson and Adriano Reis) enact the faux-Italian story of a group of villagers and their obsession with sheep. There’s a festival and flirting and rivalries and a mystery and a sheep marriage. Yes, a pair of sheep fall in love—it’s in the title!—and that’s not even the most outlandish development.
The cartoonishly vivid, meta-theatrical world-building is sometimes hard to follow, but it’s all intentionally over-the-top and malleable. Ultimately, plot here matters less than antics. There is so much energetic, visually dynamic physical comedy. Such a rambunctious group of colourful wierdos falling all over each other! There are plenty of hilarious little throw-away lines, too many to catch them all in the cacophony. You’re likely to pick out your favourite goofballs and fixate on them.
Katie Wise has devised a gaudy array of flamboyant costumes that give each performer a visually distinctive deal. Though the immersion is hit or miss, under the direction of Sue Miner, there are a number of solid, theatrically inventive moments. Paradoxically, the more outlandish were often the most convincing. There are cliff-walks, flashbacks, underwater action and a bizarre deus ex machina involving a magic clipboard and water travel. The tango with two friends disguised as sheep is strangely touching.
It’s a lot. I didn’t love most of it, but did eventually get on-board. Almost as on-board as the gentleman in front of me who was having the time of his life!
Though everyone has moments to shine and generally work well as a team, I’d like to shout out two performers whose particular thing was consistently persuasive and amusing to me. Reis’ Pedrolino is an adorably dignified, mute rascal who is the most clever of the Lombardi locals and has a few surprises up his sleeve. And Peirson as la Signora is a deliciously campy diva whose “three page soliloquy” about a five-year-old birthday heartbreak and long-game vengeance is a show-stopping comic spectacle. I pretty much lost it at “I was afraid they would find me so ugly their faces would melt.”
The Lovesick Lambs of Lombardi
March 24 to 29, 2026
Video Cabaret‘s Deanne Taylor Theatre
(10 Busy St.)
70 minutes
Ensemble of The Lovesick Lambs of Lombardi | Photo by Nate Colitto