NY CLOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL 2010: Ms. Pretty Smart
ADAM’S TAKE
I’m blogging about this a little bit after the fact. I saw this on the double bill with Perhaps Perhaps.
Overall, I thought this was a really fun show. Olivia the clown builds an interesting world, and invites us inside. She is a waiter at a Chinese restaurant, and she secretly dreams of being her comic book hero, Ms. Pretty Smart, Secret Agent. Her interludes that contrast this and her waiting job are funny, and she pulls off the illusions well. She also apparently speaks Chinese.
The piece has lots of little bright moments, but needs to be re-structured or re-written. The piece starts to bog down as she jumps in between characters, and it becomes unclear whether or not she’s still in the chinese restaurant.
For a clown show that might not be a problem so much, except that it’s in the theatre aspect of the clown theatre mantra that we get bogged down on it. She’s got too much PLOT of her story, and less into the SCENARIO of her story. By this I mean that she’s set up a really fantastic scenario: Humdrum waitress dreams of being a spy. (Sounds a bit like the television show CHUCK.) But the mechanics of the PLOT of her show (who is the secret agent, why she does what she does, her French accent that appears out of thin air) starts to get in the way of her ability to PLAY, and as a result the show starts to feel a little addled and un-clownlike, more like sketch comedy gone astray.
If I were asked for suggestions, I’d suggest ruthlessly cutting out the words, and really focusing on the scenario, and then adding in little bits of dialogue as it becomes absolutely necessary. I think then that this show would continue to focus on the funny, and less on the convoluted plot.
Overall, an interesting show by a charming performer.
OFFICIAL INFORMATION
MS. PRETTY SMART, SECRET AGENT
Olivia Lehrman
New York, NY
[Double-bill with Perhaps, Perhaps, Quizás …]
Follow this acrobat/comedienne through a fantasy world of adventure, heroism, and stupidity.  While playing piano behind her back, turning upside down, speaking Chinese, and tangling herself up in concertina playing, Secret Agent Pretty Smart juggles the humdrum of life with exploits of bravery. 30 min.
DOUBLE BILL WITH PERHAPS, PERHAPS, QUIZÃS …
Sunday, September 5th @ 5pm
Monday, September 6th @ 8pm
Tuesday, September 7th @ 9pm
Saturday, September 11th @ 8pm
Sunday, September 12th @ 7pm
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