Seen at Edinburgh Festival Fringe on the 7th of August 2022
5 stars – playful and insightful mix
What do clowns do when the director is not there? It starts like this, with spontaneous freedom, and it escalates to a play that breaks the rules of performance genres. With lightness and bliss, it explores the possibilities of the stage, as well as those of human relations.
The serious clown (Ecco Shirasaka) performs with the funny clown (Ines Sampaio), and the differences between them are stressed by the clash between the Japanese and the British cultures. Through a melting pot – or should we say a mess – of techniques and styles, the play deals with complex themes such as loss, loneliness, and human relationships in the time of social media, without ever losing its lively vibe.
From the clown show to the actresses’ metatheatrical lives outside of it, to a spiritual journey to Japan, the play keeps a fast-paced rhythm while intertwining these three dimensions. Introspections comes in through various lenses of an experience which overcomes the edges of the stage and spills out of it, scattered as life can be, complex as relations can be, always to be elated by the gift of playfulness.
Aug 8-13, 15-20; 12.35 pm
Running time: 50 minutes
Venue 236: Greenside @ Infirmary Street – Ivy Studio
Tickets and Info: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/utter-mess
Company website: https://stonecrabs.co.uk/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StoneCrabsTC
Butterwort 
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