QFWFQ Review: Calvino Novel Adapted Playfully

Gregory Nussen's one-person theatrical production, "QFWFQ," offers a novel interpretation of Italo Calvino's famously unadaptable 1979 novel, "If on a Winter's Night a Traveller." The play, which premiered at Summerhall in Edinburgh and runs until August 31, embraces the source material's postmodern surrealism and authorial intrusions by constructing its own narrative around these very elements. Nussen, the performer, and director Hannah Pilkes have transformed Calvino's complex literary experiment into a dynamic and engaging solo performance. The original novel centers on a reader's struggle to piece together a coherent narrative from a series of disparate and seemingly unrelated manuscript fragments. Nussen's adaptation translates this meta-narrative into a live theatrical experience, leveraging his charm, wit, and storytelling abilities to create a show that is both playful and politically charged.

"QFWFQ" eschews a traditional linear plot in favor of a structure that mirrors Calvino's fragmented approach. The performance delves into the challenges of interpretation and the nature of authorship, mirroring the reader's quest for meaning within the text. By incorporating elements of surrealism and direct authorial commentary, Nussen's work invites the audience to engage with the theatrical process itself, much as Calvino invited readers to engage with the act of reading. The play's political heart beats beneath its metatheatrical games, suggesting that even abstract literary structures can carry significant social and political commentary. This approach aims to make the abstract concepts of the novel accessible and relevant to a contemporary audience through performance.

The production's setting at Summerhall in Edinburgh places it within the context of the city's vibrant festival scene, where experimental and innovative theatre often finds a receptive audience. The choice to adapt a novel known for its intricate literary devices and philosophical underpinnings speaks to the ambition of the creative team. "If on a Winter's Night a Traveller" is celebrated for its innovative structure, which involves multiple interpolated novels and a narrative that constantly shifts perspective and genre. Nussen's adaptation seeks to capture this spirit of playful disorientation and intellectual exploration on stage. The performance is described as a reinvention, indicating that it is not a direct translation but rather a creative reinterpretation that draws inspiration from the original work's themes and techniques. The success of the adaptation lies in its ability to translate the novel's literary complexity into a compelling and accessible theatrical form, offering a unique perspective on Calvino's seminal work.