How a Man Crumbled - a powerful lesson in mime and crime

by J Sydney-Leigh

The joy of this show transpires when you realise that you are not supposed to understand it. The narrative thread is a rope that the characters skip with, rather than the tightrope plotlines that I am accustomed to: beginning, middle and end [heaven forbid we fall from convention]. Only once I'd given my habit of predicting the next move, could I be wholly transported into Clout Theatre’s world; where clocks have no hands, vegetables are weapons, and conversation is clucking.

This piece is based on the work of Russian iconoclast Daniil Kharms, who was considered dangerously avant-garde at his time of writing in the early 1900’s. The three characters stage one of his most famous short stories ‘The Old Woman’, and Kharms’s writing [unpredictable in both subject and style] is embodied through violent slapstick, licentious vignettes and metaphysical havoc.

The costumes are a key component to the mimetic aesthetic: drab Russian garments evoke the grey-scale of the silent movie, a style further enhanced by the montage of a traditional silent film score and a back screen which projects chapter titles and narrative conversation. Black eyeliner intensifies the hyperbolised facial expressions and the actors wear white paint on their faces that crumbles away as the tale disintegrates into chaos. This disintegration uncovers the human behind the mime, ultimately arousing empathy for the hitherto parodic characters. Daniil Kharms himself can be seen in his central character of ‘The Writer’, whose downfall is a chilling premonition of the price Kharms paid for his antirational art, and refusal to instill materialist and social Soviet values. He was ultimately starved to death on suspicion of treason… a man crumbled.

One particularly memorable scene shows The Writer pulling a screwed up piece of paper from his mouth. It is a fantastic symbol of his being stifled by his work; he can now only communicate through his pages, which have crumbled into nonsense as a result of his obsession to be the best. The physical theatre is often funny as well as poignant, producing a mixture of laugh-out-loud moments and quiet engagement. However, I wanted the physical theatre to be more physical. There was occasional motionlessness on stage that reduced the pace of the show and affected the conveyance of the disintegrated narrative. The physical action had to work hard at times to win the energy back, and thereby also put pressure on itself to provide a symbolic meaning, which could not always be located within the slapstick.

Despite this, I highly recommend the show. It is an example of the unique potential of mimetic theatre, which unfortunately we don’t see a lot of on the fringe scene. This is London… we have the influences of Europe on our doorstep, we should be giving to the world a giant concoction of theatrical rebellion! Perhaps we are lacking what Russia has: a rich history of oppression and revolution with which to fuel our movement from realist tradition. This enchanting show stole me from linear convention in an hour of profound farce, and I’m left craving more. I will endeavour to catch more pieces during the Mimetic Festival at The Vaults, and I hope this exciting season sparks more stylistic innovation in what I see on the fringe scene going forward.

★ ★ ★ ★

’How a Man Crumbled’ by Clout Theatre

Directed by Mine Cerci

18th-22nd Nov at 8.20pm

Part of the Mimetic Festival at The Vaults, Waterloo

Buy Tickets here: http://www.mimeticfest.com/events/event/how-a-man-crumbled/

#reviews