Festival Preview: Kill Me Loudly: A Clown Noir

Ever wanted clowns to admit how miserable, desperate and obsessive they really are? Director Eric Davis (Red Bastard, Cirque du Soleil, Bouffon Glass Menajoree) pushes under the freaky-happy façade of clowns to reveal a cast of cutting-edge comedians ready to whip out their dark sides.

In this dream-like murder mystery, a clown trio attempts to stage a film noir. But beware! No one returns unscathed from the depths of depravity! Meet the clowns who get caught up in the corruption, perversion and betrayal of their own twisted tale!

Here is a clown show is full of drug-addled bums, brain-battered boxers, high society pedophiles, and of course, the barely-clad-yet-deadly femme fatale. Here is an ever-changing cityscape of lonely office buildings, dead-end alleys, glitzy clubs, and old-timey neighborhoods.

Here is a show in black and white, in light and shadows, angles and corners. It’s a “Caligari”-esque, expressionistic hallucination of the 40’s crime genre that defined an American archetype. Done by clowns.

Here is a show in which good-natured comedy-makin’ turns into vicious back-stabbing, horrible revelations and plenty of nervous breakdowns.

Here is a clown noir. Very good intentions. Very bad clowns.

THE PLAYERS. Butt Kapinski, Jeff Seal and Chris “Buttons” Manley have performed around town at theaters like the Kraine, Theatre For The New City, the UCB, the PIT, the Magnet, Galapagos, the Brick, and on the streets of New York. Eric Davis, internationally-renown Red Bastard, has been a clown with Cirque du Soleil, directs Bouffon Glass Menagerie (NYIT award winner: Outstanding Production), teaches clown and bouffon, and is a Co-Director of the Brick Theater Clown Festival. Costume design by Molly Austin, set design by Antonio Zito, lighting design by Brian Aldous, Assistant Directed by Jason Leinwand and Andy Dickerson of Cirque This! Set construction by Chris Roberti. Music by Mitchell Yoshida.