Mò Vi Mento

How do you get out of a recession? If you are in government, with policies that crush the taxpayer; if you are the taxpayer, by killing someone richer than you and inheriting their fortune. Too cruel? Try explaining that to the group of characters we are about to introduce.

Achille Alfresco (nomen omen!) is a politician who aspires to become the next Prime Minister. Even the name of his party says it all: “Mò Vi Mento”, a play on words meaning, more or less, “Now I’ll lie to you”; and “Lira di Achille”, written without an apostrophe, because his goal is to leave the euro and bring the lira back to Italy.

Complicating this love triangle are a host of bizarre characters: Lucia, blind as a bat; the less-than-promising hitman Carlo Spampanato, a bungler who could not even kill time; the shameless Giuliana, all cosmetic surgery; Cinzia, young and beautiful but as ignorant as a brick; and the Quagliano family, proudly dressed in the colours of the Italian flag.

And then there are plenty of Chinese characters who know Mount Vesuvius better than Elena’s secretary, Asia, who finds shopping centres far more interesting. It is from China, in fact, that a fierce Asian delegation arrives, ready to bankrupt everyone because the only defective mini-condom ever produced by Elena’s company ended up in Shanghai, causing an unwanted pregnancy for the Mayor’s secretary.

All these characters, together with their tangled web of plots, secret loves, hidden truths, lies and blatant stupidity, move against the backdrop of a multicultural Italy that is corrupt and petty, populated by schemers willing to do anything to get what they want. The drama intensifies until it turns into farce, becoming the stage for a threefold pursuit: power, money and love, reaching tragicomic heights and unexpected situations, while reminding us that politics and lies always go hand in hand.