Four Clowns a Brilliantly Conceived Caricature of Life

Four Clowns
conceived and directed by Jeremy Aluma
Sacred Fools Theatre
through June 10: Fridays @ 11 pm only!

What starts out as a playful show with and about Four Clowns, ends up being a tiny masterpiece about the obscenities and atrocities of humanity. It's not without joy, though, as there is much physical comedy with tumbles and pratfalls, but the emphasis seems to veer in the direction of violence and crude behavior. Its mission is clearly to make a life-affirming statement. As children play and start to hit one another innocently, a simple slap turns into a slug or punch and that punch encompasses bullying and abuse of others; aggression in its earliest stages can lead to all-out hostility and war. And it does with chaotic consequences. Like a caricature of life, Four Clowns leaves an indelible impression.

Sad Clown (Alexis Jones), Angry Clown (Raymond Lee), Mischievous Clown (Kevin Klein) and Nervous Clown (Amir Levi) are a frolicking foursome who come into the audience on a few occasions and get your reaction irregardless of whether you are a willing participant. It all starts at the beginning of Clown Creation with a series of rapid-fire sketches. One clown assigns the others roles, and kind of like a giant improv, each skit rolls forward with lots of energy, laughs and unexpected endings. Siblings opening Christmas presents, a single mom trying to control her children, a teacher trying to teach a student, a basketball game, doctor and patient, therapist and patients, a courtroom, a wife, her husband and his lover, etc. There are even a few original songs about being "Children", the pains of "Adulthood". Throughout, the piece reverberates with the ever-present torture that people inflict on one another, the kind that leads to armies and war. And...the show has its fair share of overtly sexual acts like masturbation and f---ing, so this is definitely adult fare, perfect for late night enjoyment.

Pianist Mario Granville is superb. He plays before the curtain goes up - and I mean, really plays, like Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" - and provides complete musical accompaniment, punctuating the clowns' every move, throughout the show. Jeremy Aluma's direction, to say the least, is nothing short of brilliant, like the piece itself.

The four actors are equally mesmerizing, each clown consistently maintaining his very own character trait - sad, angry, mischievous, nervous. Physically agile, intelligent, imaginative and clever, Four Clowns is a 90-minute non-stop explosion. Always observant and with razor-sharp wit, its form and exposition are totally unique and its content, an irreverent mirror of human nature.