Ennio Marchetto The Living Paper Cartoon

Ennio is the original quick-change artist, revolutionising the art of origami into hilarious theatrical magic. This Olivier Award-nominated, “wickedly funny” and wildly entertaining show uses ingenious paper costumes, razor-sharp mimicry and split-second timing to create a hilarious whirlwind of popular icons.

Supported by a sizzling soundtrack, in just 60 minutes Ennio magically morphs into parodies of any number of his 100 popular characters from the world of music, movies, works of art and world leaders. Ranging from Streisand, Adele, Springsteen, Tina Turner, Beyoncé, Pavarotti, Lizzo, Lady Gaga, Celine Dion and many, many more: no celebrity is safe!

Ennio has performed in over 70 countries worldwide. His side-splitting mimicry of international figures, incredible craftsmanship and adaptability to different cultures have cemented his reputation as a unique and inimitable artist.

Ennio Marchetto

Ennio was born in 1960 in the beautiful city of Venice, next door to the house of Carlo Goldoni. The son of an espresso machine repair engineer, everybody expected Ennio to continue the family tradition, except him.

Inspired by the Disney cartoons he watched in childhood, the modern choreography of Pina Bausch and growing up amidst the Venetian Carnevale, Ennio daydreamed into flights of fancy (amusing his family and friends) with visions of Marilyn Monroe dressed in white paper.

His dream became reality with the creation of his first cabaret show, winning him the prestigious Golden Lion Award at the Venetian Entertainment Festival and The Golden Mosquito award for comedy.

When he met his collaborative partner Sosthen Hennekam, they created enough paper characters to make a full one-hour show. A year later, GHP helped Ennio to cult fame at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and from there he has become internationally loved and celebrated, performing in over 70 countries and at events such as The Royal Variety Show, the MTV Awards, The Lifeball, Elton John’s White Tie and Tiara Ball and for the BBC.

Sosthen Hennekam

Born in the Netherlands, Sosthen studied fashion and costume design at Studio Berçot in Paris. After his studies he started to work as a designer for different fashion houses, Adeline André, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Azzedine Alaïa among others. For two years he designed menswear collections for Thierry Mugler. He also trained as a cloth maker and, as such, prepared prototypes for haute couture houses like Christian Dior.

While in Italy he saw one of Ennio’s first performances and collaborated with him on a TV project. The freedom of working with paper made Sosthen decide to stay in Italy and work full time with Ennio on a complete paper show. Sosthen introduced the quick on-stage changes to the show and elaborated the complex paper movements. He also researches new characters and techniques.