“If you are lucky enough to catch it, you will experience the bliss of
watching a gifted person do amazing things.“
“Be warned. This piece also reactivates the gift of make-
believe you had as a child.”
Veronica Hannon
4 Stars
The Artist is an easily accessible but wholly satisfying take on the fear of the blank white canvas. You may not think a creative alone in a room in an existential spiral is the stuff of great comedy. Still, it is done here with hilarious results. And this is a festival show for children and adults alike.
Helsinki-based Kiwi, Thom Monckton, spent two years at Lecoq Paris. The famous theatre school has seen the likes of Steven Berkoff, Toby Jones, and Isla Fisher go through its doors. Monckton is a superb clown and displays a physical virtuosity commonly found in Lecoq graduates. One of this show’s true joys is watching the performer switch from apparent clumsiness to a display of breathtaking skill with such aplomb.
It is all deceptively simple. Our Artist is seen in his studio, wishing and praying for inspiration for a new work. The persona is bearded, bespectacled and wears a marinière. Monckton adroitly uses his lanky frame and mobile face to make a meal out of some whirlwind gags. He is troubled by a continuous drip from the ceiling he attempts to catch in his mug. Then he gets tangled up with a frame before trying to master attaching a canvas with a staple gun. He later struggles with a ladder but not before experimenting, arranging and rearranging a bowl of fruit and a bottle of wine for a potential still life.
The crowd – kids and big kids – are having a wow of a time. Monckton is enjoying himself too. Each ‘trick’ garners more appreciative applause than the last, and there is plenty of laughter and “oohs and aahs” throughout the 60-minute performance. A couple of moments of audience participation – I won’t spoil them for you with details – are funny and surprising.
The Artist has too short a season. If you are lucky enough to catch it, you will experience the bliss of watching a gifted person do amazing things. Be warned. This piece also reactivates the gift of make- believe you had as a child.
Veronica Hannon, Theatre Now
