Holy Fool follows the story of Francis of Assisi (Fabio Motta) as he lives a complex turbulent life. Despite the title, I found the character of Francis to be a Holy Gentleman rather than fool, although sometimes Motta’s impressive adlib ability to engage the audience in silly and fun ways did err on the side of fool. Directed by Giovanni Fusetti, Holy Fool shared a consistently strong optimistic message, that human actions are powerful and can impact the natural world, and that our hero, Saint Francis, can and did make a difference.
Given the nature of the high rate of audience interaction for Holy Fool, the composition of the audience is important to the story Motta and Fusetti are telling. The evening I saw the show the audience was full of people speaking Italian, including a priest directly to my right! The audience already wanted Francis to succeed, and Motta made it easy to root for him. Throughout the show Motta encouraged the audience to energise and support Francis on his arduous journey.
Fusetti and Motta boldly choreographed and enacted an in-depth depiction of war in a one man show. It was daring. Throughout the show Motta transformed into different characters, the God father, the pope, Francis’ own father. Motta was entertaining and enthusiastically embodied each character in unique and exciting way. Motta embodied drama, danger, and offensiveness with only one man on stage. Motta expertly pivots Francis’ life purpose of glory and notability to caring for the poor, and is thus labelled a ‘Holy Fool’. In pursuit of caring for the poor Francis asks the audiences to give up their worldly possessions. In a hilarious and silly turn of events Francis donates all the audience members belongings to a ‘poor’ person in the front row. Motta was playful, and continued to thoughtfully interact with the audience throughout the show.
Francis asked “who would I be if I stripped all that defined me?” This came during his distinct turn towards helping the poor, where Francis aimed to become an “instrument of peace.” The shift in tone for the show was mirrored by the atmosphere within the audience, as the crowd sufficiently bought into the ideas of the show’s new thesis. Francis preached caring for others, caring for animals, and caring for nature. He emboldened the audience to follow his lead, and charismatically preached his newfound beliefs. He was earnest in his plead for care and connection. The style of physical comedy and audience interaction lead to the climax of the show where Francis sincerely asked the audience to commit to his new ideas and values, and then simply scooted away. The audience did affirm their commitment to the Holy Fool.
To book tickets to Holy Fool, please visit https://www.theatreworks.org.au/2026/holy-fool.
Photographer: Darren Gill
