Showing @ On Tour (see listings under review)
Three men with a chair fetish might not automatically strike you as the basis for comedy gold but that’s probably because you’re not a clown. For Ian Cameron, Tim Licata & David Walshe, the performers who make up Plutôt La Vie these were far more than simply implements for sitting on and they managed to come up with a myriad of inventive uses and abuses of their furniture with always one last gag just when you thought they’d run out of steam.
There’s a gentle old school charm to much of Plutôt La Vie’s performance style seemingly at odds with today’s Nintendo generation. Certainly the first five to ten minutes of By the Seat of Your Pants was greeted with more bottom shuffling than rapt attention however through a mixture of slapstick, music and acrobatic violence this trio of Scottish clowns had, by the end, won over their youthful crowd.
The more violent the clowning the more hilarious the crowd found it
There’s a rule of thumb in comedy – Someone hitting their thumb with hammer will get big laughs and as you might expect with an audience predominately made up of small children the more violent the clowning the more hilarious the crowd found it. Licata in particular seemed to have an incredible pain threshold as he threw himself around the stage throughout breaking many health and safety rules but causing the audience falling in love with him.
At its best By The Seat of Your Pants was a show that put a big silly grin on your face at the whimsicality of it all. At it’s worst it was too slow, probably about ten minutes too long, and a little on the self indulgent side. Younger kids and parents will relish the anarchy and ramped up slapstick but for those seven or older this show might have a hard time keeping their interest.
In a world where children have so many distractions at their fingertips it’s difficult not to see companies like Plutôt La Vie as anachronistic but judging from the reaction they got at Howden Park – the first performance on a long tour – there’s clearly still a place for live clowning in the hearts of kids – and big kids as well.
Listings:
12th March – Lemon tree, Aberdeen
www.boxofficeaberdeen.com
Times: 3pm (workshop at 11am)
Tickets: 01224 642230 £7.50 for show, £4 for workshop, £10 for both. Bookings subject to 10% booking fee.
13th March – FTH, Falkirk
www.falkirk.gov.uk
Times: 2pm
Tickets: 01324 506850 Adults £7.50 / £6.50 concessions. Under 16s and groups of 6+ £5.00
16th March – Palace Theatre, Kilmarnock
www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/comser/theatre/programme.asp
Times: 10am
Tickets: 01563 554900 £5
18th March – Platform, Glasgow
www.platform-online.co.uk
Times: 10.30am
Tickets: 0141 276 9696 £8/4.50, £3.50 local links, £2.50 school groups
19th March – Paisley Arts Centre, Paisley
https://boxoffice.renfrewshire.gov.uk/PEO/
Times: 2pm
Tickets: 0141 887 1010 £5
23rd March – Lochan
www.lochan.info
Tickets: 01599 544308
25th March – Macphail Arts Centre, Ullapool
www.macphailcentre.co.uk
Tickets: 01854 613336
27th March – Woodend Barn, Banchory
www.woodendbarn.co.uk
Times: 3pm
Tickets: 01330 825431 £6 in advance £7 on the door
30th March – Eden Court Theatre, Inverness
www.eden-court.co.uk
Times: 6.30pm
Tickets: £7, £22 family ticket
1st April – Angus Arts, Stracathro Hall, Inchbare, Brechin
www.angusarts.org
Times: 7pm
Tickets: 01356 670 304 or 01356 648 669 £5 or £18 for family ticket
3rd April – Lyth Arts Centre, Wick
www.lytharts.org.uk
Times: 8pm
Tickets: 01955 641 270
5th April – Eastgate Theatre and Arts Centre, Peebles
www.eastgatearts.com
Tickets: 01721 725 777
8/9th April – macrobert, University of Stirling
www.macrobert.org
Times: 8th 2pm & 7pm, 9th 11am & 2pm
Tickets: 01786 466 666 £6/5
12th April – East Kilbride Arts Centre
www.eastkilbride.org.uk/leisure/arts-centre.htm
13th April – Byre Theatre, St Andrews
www.byretheatre.com
Times: 2pm & 7.30pm
Tickets: 01334 475000 £8/6
14th April – Catstrand, New Galloway
www.catstrand.com
Times: 2.30pm (workshop 4pm)
Tickets: 01644 420374 £3.50 (£5.50 for show & workshop)
16th April – Cumbernauld Theatre
www.cumbernauldtheatre.co.uk
Times: 7.45pm
Tickets: 01236 732 887 £8/7
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