Fringe Physical Theatre
Last Clown on Earth
Pleasance Courtyard
four stars
Eaten
Summerhall
four stars
Wereldband:Slapstick
Assembly George Square Theatre
four stars
Mary Brennan
WHAT if the sun imploded, leaving darkness to envelope the earth – could anybody save humanity? Enter a raggedy figure, clambering over the audience and onto the stage: Anton Adasinsky is about to square up to the slings and arrows of cosmic misfortune as the Last Clown on Earth, a role he inhabits with every shade of the chameleon grotesquerie he’s devised as the founder of the award-winning Russian physical theatre company, Derevo.
Actually, for “clown”, you might want to think instead of a holy fool, a comedic fall guy ready to wander from Heaven to Hell, lobbying God and the Devil who both appear in the quirky video/animations by Pavel Semchenko. This quest finds him caught up with the flaws in humanity, from that original fall from grace in Eden through to 21st century acts of aggression, greed and selfishness. Adasinsky’s expressive virtuosity is to the fore throughout, as is the bitter-sweet melancholy that shadows the heights of absurdity, all leading, with an unflagging smile, to final self-sacrifice on our behalf. This is clowning with a distinctly Russian accent, profoundly spiritual and redemptive, even when the buffoonery is in full flow.
Runs until August 28
SCIENTIFIC fact meets humorous invention when Mamoru Iriguchi invites audiences to delve into the belly of the beast and discover what it means to be Eaten. Lionel MacLion may want to be vegetarian but he has swallowed Iriguchi whole and now, as it were, Lionel’s food is talking back. That clues us that the digestive processes that will, in time, see bodily functions in motion. To the delight of young children, Iriguchi slithers out of the lion’s hindquarters as a ginormous poo. A cheerfully chatty Doctor Poo, in fact, who soon has volunteers on-stage helping to construct the food chain that means you are what you eat – and what that ate, too. Iriguchi explores plant and animal life-cycles with a droll charm that makes even avowed veggies understand why cats, big or small, need to eat meat. Lionel’s exceedingly cute costume is just one of many appealing design elements in a family-friendly show where Iriguchi and fellow-performer Suzi Cunningham use whimsical hi-jinks to feed us stimulating ideas.
Runs until August 27
OFF-stage, the five guys in Wereldband have clearly spent time absorbing the evergreen schtick of Hollywood greats like Laurel and Hardy, and the Marx Brothers. On-stage, it’s their own zany energy that refreshes the visual gags from silent movies or the comedy capers out of old-time vaudeville. They even recreate fairground sideshows, merrily wheedling audience members to throw balls at tin cans or compete in a cod shooting gallery. This looning-around is hugely entertaining in itself, but this Dutch troupe are also talented and versatile musicians, who can shift from a capella crooning to rag-time instrumentals by way of poptastic spoof. Kids and adults alike succumb to giggles and guffaws at a cavalcade of daftness that is superbly orchestrated and never misses a trick.
Runs until August 27
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here