By Ernest Kearney — In his show Furiozo, Polish clown Piotr Sikora develops an interesting relationship with his audience, one comparable to those relationships between the iceberg and the Titanic, the Chicxulub asteroid and the dinosaurs, Godzilla and Tokyo.
Only funnier.
In Furiozo, Sikora unfolds, before us, the short full-throttle life of a punk-rock, methed-out, hard-core party monster. Not only are we made spectators to his over-the-top, no-holds-barred bacchanal behavior, but we’re also transformed into his enablers.
Not only do we find ourselves enablers, but in some odd paradoxical manner we also find ourselves becoming that annoying little “ping-ping-pinging” sound reminding him to put on his seatbelt; one moment we find ourselves in his mosh pit, the next his guardian angels; and in having to endure this mangling contradictive metamorphism we come to face an unexpected, eye-opening, jaw-dropping revelation; that Sikora’s grunting, snorting, goonish hooligan is just like all the rest of us. He wants acceptance, he wants love.
In a wickedly clever perverting of a clown’s typical inclusion of an audience into his performance, Sikora begins recruiting members as elements and aspects of his narrative; but, the Polish clown goes further, demanding a more intimate involvement.
He turns, hesitantly at first, to the audience seeking our approval for his actions, ensnarling us in an evolution of his own webbing in which, before realizing it, we have evolved into his “mates,” his “companions.”
Sikora deftly manipulates this device when he meets a “party girl” and brings her home with him. Suddenly the knuckle-dragging sexual animal falters over that first night of physical awkwardness which I am sure most of us have at one point or another suffered. Now, Sikora turns to us, almost shyly, to validate that his actions lie appropriately within the boundaries of the #metoo era.
In a spin of a classic tale, Sikora has cast us in the role of Doctor Jekyll to his Mister Hyde. But the clown accomplishes something that eluded Robert Louis Stevenson; Sikora reveals the brute’s nobility.
Be warned, Sikora is not one for the “happily ever after endings.” Our evolution continues through the awaiting stages – Familia, accomplices, and ultimately, in an urban Gethsemane alleyway, executioners.
In Furiozo, Sikora demonstrates one of the keynotes of his craft, that in a clowning chaos can be glimpsed a reflection of that humanity we all have in common.
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Played During
The Hollywood Fringe Festival 2024
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For More Information Go To: piggy.website/shows/furiozo
