Easter Springs...

As a new springtime beckons and beguiles us all, Charlotte Jarvis, Robert Williamson and myself are stealing little run-throughs (not rehearsals) of our wildly surreal adaptation of Ben Okri's 
The Comic Destiny...

coming soon to an Edinburgh Festival Fringe Programme near you
with the kind hospitality of The Scottish Storytelling Centre
and then to the Riverside Studios in London in September.

We play wherever and whenever there is cosmic space and time. We are clowns --
no, more like imps on a quest for transcendence, spirits and the cosmic timing of the gods.

Ben Okri is truly a stand-up cosmic.

Dead Souls, rollover...

Here's a wee review of Lazzi's adaptation of Nikolai Gogol's Dead Souls
which appeared on Facebook written by Mike Daviot.
I received it on April Foole's Day, no joke. And to me it sings to the spirit of the day's celebration :

'DEAD SOULS... a wondrous one-man performance by Robert Williamson of the classic story by Gogol... if this had been performed in Italy, Germany or France it would rightly be acclaimed as deserving comparison with the work of Dario Fo, Brecht or the golden days of Jean-Louis Barrault at the Odeon in Paris. The passion, intelligence, quicksilver humour and Keaton-esque physicality of the performance are utterly un-British and make the almost an hour show feel like 15 minutes.'


So yes, we shall not be grave men, but shall rollover like a happy lottery and play Dead about...

Please contact myself or Robert about these future gigs... (as some of them may be 'outlaws' !)

Like Nikolai himself... we harness the scoundrel.  'Gee-up !  Drive fast over these bumpy roads !'

Robert Willamson as Nikolai Gogol in Dead Souls

Robert Williamson as Nikolai Gogol

image by Heidi Pearson

LAZZI's theatrical adaptation of Nikolai Gogol's Dead Souls had its world premier at the Scotland-Russia Forum in Edinburgh on 23 March 2012 to a sold-out house. Audience response was ecstatic and a truly Russian-flavoured reception with vodka and nibbles and laughter ensued.  Nostrovie ! 

Another performance (and another reception) follows next Friday 30 March -- Scotland-Russia Forum, 9 Old College Street, Edinburgh.  7 pm. -- info@scotlandrussiaforum.org   0131 668 3635

Scotland Arts Action

Sunday, April 1st -- Foole's Day

Take part in Artists' Action Against New Restrictions in Arts Licensing !

Limbo jamming at Rose & Castle in Edinburgh...

Mid-day and ever after.

Make a stand.  Make some silent noise.

Dead Souls

Chichikov is a scoundrel with charisma...

He only wants to buy the names of your serfs who have died.

'Wealth exists on paper - this is true for individuals, families, corporations and nations.'


Nikolai Gogol's comic masterpiece Dead Souls... was his ironic legacy... his undoing...

his name sold to eternity.  With Gogol, the fun never stops, only life does.


LAZZI adaptation by David W W Johnstone starring Robert Williamson in bravado performance.

Scotland-Russia Forum, 9 South College Street, Edinburgh : 23 & 30 March 2012, 7.30 pm.

Comic Destiny

the lost blurb...


Ben Okri's The Comic Destiny


Lazzi Director David WW Johnstone's new adaptation finds a storytelling doorway into Ben Okri's surreal fable. A world of patriarchs, skeletons and imps, asylum escapees and a young couple seeking more loving arguments.


What..... ?

Dead Souls

for all us Russophiles...

Lazzi's adaptation of Nikolai Gogol's madly comic novel, Dead Souls, will premier at The Scotland-Russia Institute/Forum on Fridays 23 and 30 March 2012 at 7.30 pm.
Directed by David WW Johnstone, this original solo performance stars the madly comic actor, Robert Williamson.
Scotland-Russia Institute is located at 9 South College Street, Edinburgh. 0131 668 3635
info@scotlandrussiaforum.org
Reception to follow : nibbles and vodka most likely.