LONDON - 'Grimaldi's Last Act', an audio play based on Charles Dickens' telling of the life of an Italian clown in London in the 19th century, is the latest offering by the Tricolore Theatre Company.

  The play , to be revised and performed as a stage play in 2022, is written by Penny Culliford and based on Dickens' rewritten version of the entertaining, but tragic, memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi. Grimaldi (1778-1837), the grandson of Italian immigrants, was one of the most popular entertainers of Regency London, and a major influence on the art of clowning and pantomime.

  He was born into a family of performers and joined his father on stage for the first time aged just two. His fame grew steadily from that point on and as an adult was good friends with Lord Byron and George, the Prince Regent. However, his life was beset by financial instability, family tragedy and physical and mental ill-health (partly as a result of his often dangerous shows), and he retired from the stage aged 44 to take up alcoholism.

  The Tricolore Theatre Company is a London-based company set up in 2008 by Nadia Ostacchini, staging plays with an international flavour, with an emphasis on Italian theatre in English, or bilingual, for children.

  'Grimaldi's Last Act' features Edmund Dehn, and is directed by Anthony Shrubsall, produced by Nadia Ostacchini, with sound by Adam Graver and music by Zelida Gordon.

  Click here to listen for free.

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