Reviews

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.

Ever since Tim Firth adapted his successful 2003 film into a stage play in 2008 it has been a box-office bonanza, breaking the all-time British box-office record for a play on its 2008/09 UK tour. Based on a true story, the plot, as everyone knows, is about a group of middle-aged Yorkshire women who pose nude for a fund-raising calendar, and is an ideal choice for community theatre with its multiple roles for women of a certain age.

The German word Betroffenheit carries with it a sometimes inexplicable feeling; bereavement, shock and impact caused by tragedy. It’s a sensation attached to an incomprehensible emotion that encompasses the whole body. In their latest performance piece, Electric Company Theatre and Kidd Pivot channel performer Jonathon Young’s personal struggle.