Dunedin Arts Festival: The Artist

It can be really tricky finding a show that everyone will enjoy together – one where grandma can sit comfortably next to a teenager without either of them getting bored or embarrassed. The Artist really is a show that everyone will enjoy – it’s clever, funny, has no dialogue and uses slapstick comedy and physical theatre to tell the story. It’s like Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Marcel Marceau and Mr Bean rolled into one.

And if you've never been a theatre show before – this is a perfect way to start!

Thom Monckton grew up on Patea and now lives in Finland where he’s an international circus sensation. He creates one-man plays that show off his incredible skills as a mime, acrobat and theatre clown, and then takes them around the world. His own brand of theatre is non-verbal, so there’s no dialogue on stage. It’s just Monckton acting a story through mime, and because it’s slapstick, we know that everything that can go wrong, will go wrong in spectacular fashion, heading to absolute chaos.

The Artist begins with a man arriving in his paint-splattered studio, about to start work. First, he must do all the preparations – get the canvas ready, find all his paints and brushes, and then wait for inspiration to come. If there’s a problem to be solved, then this artist will find the most creative way around it – through wit, extreme physical acts, and a good dose of silliness. It might get a bit ridiculous – Monckton’s body is like elastic! – but that’s all part of the charm.

One of the great things about The Artist is that because there's no talking you can laugh your head off without missing any of the gags. And this show is downright hilarious. How much trouble can one artist get into in his own studio, before he even gets around to actually painting a picture? The Artist is comedy gold that has to be seen to be believed.

FOR AUDIENCES:
Dunedin Arts Festival, King’s and Queen’s Performing Arts Centre, April 21 & 22
Festival of Colour, Lake Wanaka Centre, Wanaka, April 17

Click here to listen to the Radio NZ Kim Hill review

Click here to watch the trailer for The Artist on YouTube