Slava’s Snowshow is set in a surrealistic world of nitwits, unlikely sharks and an affecting last dance with a coat rack. (Veronique Vial)
Blowing into Canada for holiday-season runs at Toronto’s St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts (to Dec. 16) and Montreal’s Théâtre St-Denis (Dec. 19 to Jan. 6) is Slava’s Snowshow, a touring show of clown-based chaos created in 1993 by Russian performance artist Slava Polunin. The production witnessed by The Globe and Mail on Saturday was a testament to thoughtful physical theatre and a charming refutation of global warming. Snow-scene special effects are of the analogue kind; the humour and poignancy are handmade as well.
Polunin, 68, no longer performs as the titular character. And though his big red slippers are hung up, he has left footprints behind. He has described his brand of pantomime as “expressive idiotism,” with Slava’s Snowshow set in a surrealistic world of nitwits, unlikely sharks and an affecting last dance with a coat rack.
Giant balloons bounce, umbrellas spread water instead of deflecting it, and while a family-friendly staging covers the audience with a giant spider web, nothing goes over anyone’s head, metaphorically.
At turns poetic and mischievous, Slava’s Snowshow is absurdist tragicomedy, a meditation on lost souls and a red-nose spectacle with heart. Clowns who venture into the crowd pose no threat except mayhem.
The blizzard finale dazzles. One more of life’s storms is survived.
Brad Wheeler