Saw five more shows since my last posting. Am I tired? If I have to ask then you know the answer. Such great work being created--this year's festival is chock full of strong shows, brimming with talent.
Thursday, Sept. 20th saw Dont Run, RUSH! Creator/writer: Mona Ray (Ratalahti), Performer: Mona Ray, Director: Lilli Sukula-Lindblom, Music: Sami Sippola. Tampere, Finland. Mona treated us to several different scenes, each with a different character, one was a man with a mustache, another a bride with a cigar, and a few others. English not being Mona's primary language, her accent accented her clown's serious presentation of the science of laughter. She engaged the entire audience in the exercise of laughter and when using audience members on stage, she firmly yet gently called upon them to participate. At one point, she had 9 people on stage, putting paper bags on their heads. Between scenes was the excellent jazz music of Sami Sippola. A lot of fun, a lot of laughs.
In The Boudoir, Creator/Writer/Performer/Director: Summer Shapiro, San Francisco, CA. Once you are drawn in by Summer's gripping eye contact, she never lets go until the show ends. We go on the journey of a woman seeking love and companionship, with a character that has a very publicly private struggle. Dressed in a voluminous gown puffed out with crinoline (that gets caught on table legs and other things), she tells her story using her agile physical style. The men in the audience are at her mercy, and two of them end up dueling (swords, nun chucks & pistols) for her affections. There were abrupt changes in movement and music that at times made me feel cheated of a completed action, yet clowns do this all the time. We still go where she leads us, and we are not disappointed.
Perhaps, Perhaps...Quizas, Creator/writer: Gabriela Muñoz, Performer: Gabriela Muñoz, Co-Director: Luis Sosa, Costume: Valentina Muñoz, Art and graphic design: Marion Sosa, Mexico City, Mexico. (Apologies for lack of accents on names/titles: not available on this blog's format). Reprinted here is my first blog upon seeing Gabby's act in its original, shorter version: "a bride ready to walk down the aisle with that special man. First she has to find him. Wordlessly (but for some goofy humming) she turns to the audience to mine what prize may be found there. This clown has a beautifully open face where we see her entire inner life expressed. She is at times exasperated, hopeful, cynical, and impatient, and we can’t take our eyes off her for a moment. (It occurred to me that this bride has probably been married and divorced many times.) She clearly likes creamy wedding cake, a bit of romance, and expects her man to step up to the plate. The piece was short, simple, and left me wanting more." All I said before still holds true. Now I can add that the expanded version delivers the "more" we were left wanting, complete with a wedding party (audience members recruited as bridesmaids and priest, as well as that lucky groom) and the solitude of the lonely single, dreaming of love.
I have to say here that the three women clowns written about above, all present variations on the bride or single clown seeking a mate. All three are completely different and entertaining--each in their own way. A clown derived from the personal is rich with originality and unique qualities and no two are alike even when they explore the same themes.
That's all I can do for now--up next I will write about The Dingbat Show, Dante the Magical, Mysterious Man in Plaid, and Members of Our Limbs.
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