A good story holds its own, in this case numerous good stories nicely told by Dan Pavatich from The Improv Conspiracy in his Fringe show, Big Strong Boy. He relates family tales and moments from his life in a gentle and appealing way – the man’s a raconteur and has a future as such. Pavatich knows how to extrapolate the absurd details which make small stories sing loudly and he offers us moments of poignancy from his life events, making them relate to each other with a fine use of detail. It’s a gift to understand how small stories make up a life and to know that drama doesn’t have to exist in glowing neon colours to be moving and effective.
I liked this show a lot: without self-pity or angst Pavatich can talk about heartbreak and family disappointments in a way that keeps you fascinated; underlying it all is the subtext about a young man learning who he is. There were chuckles and a few cute moments where the audience enjoys a not-quite-so traditional Italian Easter custom. The stories range from an eccentric tyrant of a grandfather who steals his own son’s gardening tools to the apparent glamour of a visit to an exclusive Japanese sex club.
Pavatich is a confident performer, and holds his own on stage. I’d like to see him sharpen his English, really start thinking about his use of language and make it more sophisticated. He tends to use a few sloppy phrases and gets the odd expression wrong. There’s a writer there who needs to pay attention to his sentences and use of idiom in order to spellbind. A keen literary eye cast over Pavatich’s script would do wonders and really lift this show to the heights he’s capable of.
BY LIZA DEZFOULI
