Even before it was over, I knew that Jessica Barton's Dirty Work would be on my list of best shows I've seen this year.
This delightful piece had a single performance at Soho Theatre this month as part of London Clown Festival, and if you have just visualised a circus, oversized shoes or a red nose, then stop that immediately and open your mind to something else completely.
If you look closely, you may sense the echo of traditional clowning in the contemporary interpretation of this discipline but it is something of a different order. It adopts a far broader variety of presentational styles and aesthetics and, featuring a lot more audience interaction, it is infinitely inventive in its capacity to subvert and entertain.
Australian artist Jessica Barton is a star in the making, and Dirty Work, which she started working on whilst a student at L’Ecole Philippe Gaulier's Clown School, showcases her multiple skills, which include improvisation, singing and a comically flexible physicality.
Mary Floppins, her stage persona, is a 21st century construal of the legendary nanny made famous on film by Julie Andrews, but whilst Poppins tidied up the children's nursery with a spoonful of sugar, Floppins's charge is more of a live-in slob-man-child.
If we know anything, though, it is that for every job that must be done, there is an element of fun, and Barton's character, full of impish mischief, has the audience eating out of her hands, eliciting oohs and aahs at her proficient folding of a pillowcase.
Engaging help from members of the audience, she moves on to folding larger items of bedding, sorting laundry and a range of other domestic duties.
Of course, this finely tuned comedy is in part misdirection, lending greater impact to the quietly touching story of female empowerment that underpins this feast of comic physical prowess.
The almost wordless Dirty Work is comically ingenious. Floppins is enchanting and hilarious, directing the audience through fluid but uncompromising facial expressions and impeccably timed gestures.
Adorable and practically perfect.
Dirty Work is on for one night at Manchester's Creatures Comedy Festival (24 July) and then plays Edinburgh Fringe, returning to London for one night (12 September) at Underbelly Boulevard.
London Clown Festival is an event that celebrates physical comedy and clown-influenced contemporary performance, taking place at Soho Theatre and Jacksons Lane. The festival continues with:
- Tuesday 1 July Tatte emalion Jacksons Lane
- Wednesday 2 July Otto & Astrid: The Stage Tour Jacksons Lane
- Thursday 3 July The Weight of Shadow Jacksons Lane
- Thursday 3 July Tatte emalion Jacksons Lane
- Friday 4 July Naughty Cabaret Jacksons Lane