The Last Clown on Earth @ Pleasance

In line with their 20-year anniversary, Derevo’s latest offering, The Last Clown on Earth, is a solo show from the troupe’s creator Anton Adasinky. Quite expectedly, it is a show that defies easy categorisation, bucks convention, and leaves the audience deeply uneasy at every turn. Unlike previous shows, though, there is but one character – the eponymous last clown – played by Adasinky himself. Devoid of plot, character development, and any readily discernible sense of meaning, it is by no means a show for the meek. Props are wielded without purpose, as the clown’s red nose is magnified to a preposterous dimension, and toys are steadily strewn across the stage.

Disappointingly, there is little other than the surreal, the avant-garde and the Dadaist. Blending elements of clowning, mime, Japanese butoh, and edgy physical theatre, it delves into the dark – exploring death, rebirth and the cyclical, nonsensical nature of existence. But despite these lofty themes, it is a hard performance to sit through, made no more painless by the fact that this is surely its very aim. Life, after all, defies reason and leaves many in a state of existential dystopia.

With the introduction of stark audio-visual elements, a massive screen displays swirling vortexes of shapes and images of Adasinky cast as both angel and devil. Yet despite the prominence of the technology, it scarcely adds anything to the mix other than yet more confusion and absurdity. For those seeking the distressing and the grotesque – look no further.  

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The Last Clown on Earth, Pleasance Courtyard, until 28 Aug (not 14 or 21) 5.40pm, £12-13