serendip.txt

http://www.nightnews.net/fringe2008.htm#serendip

Serendipity - Le Navet Bete
venue :: Sweet ECA
see links :: http://www.lenavetbete.co.uk/
category :: Dance & Physical Theatre
Reviewed date :: 24 08 08

Review: When four out of the five post modernist clowns in this 
show explode onto the stage, latecomers are still filtering into
the audience, and this gives rise to some additional, suitably 
expressive, fun interactions. With a high energy, expressive, non
-stop, marathon approach to their craft, the clowns of 'Le Navet 
Bete' do not fail to carry the audience along on their unique
wave of infectious hysteria throughout this show. One of them,
Al Dunn, bears a striking resemblance to the late Marty Feldman,
which mere fact alone can cause spontaneous smiling. When the 
fifth clown comes on in a wheelchair, the necessary injection 
of pathos is apparent and this makes the troupe complete. The 
audience titters, the show is ridiculously funny, perhaps even
brilliant; blink and you will miss a gag. The troupe deliver a
constant stream of humour in the way of visual gags, clowning gags,
acrobatic gags, musical gags and the audience seem wholly in tune
with the pace, style and comedy. With facial expressions that 
communicate a strange psychology of comic horror, if not blind 
terror at performing, the troupe verges on the macabre and black
comedy. When Nick Bunt as Hans says, '..this is not a comedy, 
this show is in the theatre section, I am not a comedian!,' the
audience can only respond with more laughter. So it goes on, as
one sketch leads into another and the troupe take us on a trip 
into even more unlikely and taller stories of the butterfly effect
and world domination! The audience are in a constant state of
being 'wowed' and the applause is in steady bursts. Alex Dunn
manages to kick a UV tube from the ceiling in his exuberance 
but there is a remarkable recovery from this faux pas! Al Dunn,
Nick Bunt, Duncan Fidler, Dan Bianchi, Matt Freeman are a 
remarkable, creative, original, skilled troupe of English clowns
who are a credit to the clowning profession and tradition. They 
have some great chemistry going on amongst them and this makes 
for an even greater chemistry with their appreciative audiences.
5 gold bats

by John C Vassallo