Reviews

The Baby Farmer comes in three formats; a book, illustrations and a play. After looking at the grim sketches by artist Chloe Neath, I had a fair idea that I was going to witness something out of my comfort zone. Sitting in the front row I was met with baby dolls impaled on spikes lining the front of the stage; some missing limbs, heads and other dolls gutted.

Shakespeare’s Richard III has been one of his most popular works ever since it was first performed in 1594. It has an extremely long and varied performance history of productions around the world, including Germany. There is evidence of Shakespeare’s plays being performed in Germany from the early 1600s and Thomas Ostermeier and Berlin’s  Schaubühne Theatre Company have been leaders in contemporary theatre for many years.

When we think of clowns, we imagine colourful face make-up, big wigs and oversized clothes. This Adelaide Fringe show, The Book of Clown, has some of that but focuses more on slapstick and silliness. It is brought to the stage by the International School for Acting and Creativity.

Performer Sang Park opens the show coaxing his audience into his absurd juggling tricks with soft neon balls and plastic bags. At this performance, he was met with a pint-sized heckler in the front row who kept him on his toes. Park handled it well with a big, mischievous smile.

This production is as it was first performed in 1942 at the Victory Theatre by the United States Government as part of their war effort. It had in the cast such famous people as Kathryn Hepburn, Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart from the original film and it was a great success. It later was made into the musical,  High Society, with Grace Kelly.