Time for some Bouffon clowning now with a piece devised and performed by Francesca Caruso. She is currently an MA Theatre and Performance student, studying at King's College in London. Drawing from her own personal life, Caruso creates auto-ethnographic performances which aim to be entertaining and absurdist. "Pater Noster" borrows from Jacques Lecoq's clowning and bouffonnerie artistic practice.
Caruso grew up in a devoutly Catholic household and surrounding neighbourhood. How did these social influences shape her own spirituality? That was the primary focus of this short piece. We met an eccentric Catholic monk who was constantly confronted with problematic scenarios. The stylised movement paid particular attention to Catholic customs and rituals. "Pater Noster" explored the contrast between the internal and personal relationship with God versus the external religious spectacle and the dogmatic practices of the collective.
Cue the sacred music, which was like something from "The Hunchback Of Notre Dame" or more recently "Fleabag". The choral music effectively underscored the action on stage; the performance took place in a blackbox studio, I believe with no audience due to the Covid-19 situation. There was nice creative exploration of the notions of gluttony and idolatry. The former meaning habitual greed or excess in eating as demonstrated by the monk's indulgence when consuming a ton of crackers and red wine. The latter referring to extreme admiration and reverence for something or someone like when the monk swallowed a page from the Bible. Alongside the grotesque facial expressions (emphasised by the make-up) were the conflicted looks leaking Catholic guilt.
I felt like a few of the actions could have been pushed further, not for the sake of it but to creatively take motifs as far as they can go. It felt somewhat tame when compared to other Bouffon clowning shows I have seen, which tend to push dark comedy to the edge of acceptability. Saying that, with an audience the piece might have been very different with a window to explore the audience and performer relationship. Nevertheless, the performance made for interesting viewing.
Caruso has devised a performance which stands out stylistically due to the personal resonance it has with her.
Reviewer - Sam Lowe
on - 16/8/20
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