The Artist.
Performed by Thom Monkton. Directed by Sanna Silvennoinen. Lightingg design Juho Rahijarvi. Sound design Tuomas Norvio and Atte Kantonen. Costume design Kati Mantere. Circo Aero. AC Arts. Adelaide Festival. March 9 – 14. 2020
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
The man behind me can’t stop
guffawing at Thom Monckton’s clownish antics. The high squeals of delighted
children ring through the audience at every silly slapstick Pratt fall. Lanky
and lean with wispy uncontrolled hair, Monckton in striped shirt and ankle
length trousers is every inch the engaging mime, the fumbling, bumbling artist,
grasping for inspiration in his paint bespattered atelier. As supple as a rubber hose and as flexible as
plasticine, Le Coq-trained Monckton sets up a series of sight gags as he prepares
to paint. In an hour of muddlement, the artist staples his sock to the canvas
on the frame., slips and slides snakelike on his paint splattered floor, catches
drops from the ceiling onto his tongue, balances on the red table and builds
suspense as he balances precariously on a ladder or hangs from the shelf as he
reaches for his paint brushes, only to come to grief to the amusement of his
audience.
Physical theatre can be a risky
business prone to injury or mistakes. The step ladder teeters and falls towards
the table where Monckton skilfully lands only to watch as a glass bottle for
his still life portrait routine crashes to the hard floor. The advantage of a
circus act is that a five=minute break to clean up the glass and wipe the floor
does nothing to disturb the narrative, and the audience applauds as Monckton
resumes his cleverly contrived physical gags.
He fortunately spies a member of the audience,
similarly dressed in a striped top and invites her to be his life model and
complete a Margritte blank face. Audience participation is always a testy
business, but this time Monckton has struck it lucky, not only finding a willing
participant but a person with a deft artist’s touch. With clever sleight of
hand Monckton sets up his portrait exhibition and with a plastic glass of wine
in his hand sits as critic of his art.
The Artist is an ideal
treat for the very young who delight in the danger and surprise of slapstick and
the young at heart who appreciate the quirky humour and skill of the consummate
clown. One hour is a good length for Monckton’s story of the hapless artist to
unfold. And, as the song goes, Be a clown. Be a clown. Everyone loves a
clown. And everyone at The Artist did.
