SLAVA’S SNOWSHOW
Runs: approx 2h 40m, one interval
Tour information and booking: www.slavasnowshow.co.uk
Review: Alexander Ray, Birmingham Hippodrome 9 November

Clowning that will stay in your memory
I suspect that Slava Polunin has created the sort of show that others can only copy. The way he weaves clowning routines – sometimes hauntingly beautiful ones – into a loose knit whole, reinforced with repeated objects and images, is certainly unique in my experience.

A short yellow-suited clown is joined by a group of green-coated clowns but we are never certain whether the green-coats are friendly to the yellow-suit who embarks on a journey. Slava’s storytelling and staging evoke an elusive dream, one which we nearly understand but remains just beyond our grasp. But, while we are comfortable, sometimes a darker sense hovers in the background.

The great success of the show is its universal appeal – crossing ages, cultures and even performance preferences. The performers have grace, are never gross; but (as with a child) they are naive and vulnerable. And in their vulnerability lies their appeal.

But lest this all sounds too cerebral; don’t you just love it when children squeal with delight? Children have an ability to enjoy things with their whole being, and Slava’s show engages them in this way. Children and the child within us adults. We are splattered with rain, have performers clambering over us, are wrapped in cobwebs and, yes, engulfed in a snowstorm.

This is clowning that’s funny, surprising and of consummate beauty.

Artists
Francesco Bifano
Oleg Lugovsky
Yuri Musatov
Evgeny Perevalov
Artem Zhimolokhov
Aelita West
Elena Ushakova
Vanya Polunin
Elena Ushakoya

Stage TEchnicians: Dmitry Ushakov, Dimitryt Sakhalov, Ivan Yaropolski
Lighting Technician: Alexander Percherskiy
Sound Technician: Gleb Titanyan

2011-11-10 12:31:38