Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall – until 14 October 2019
Reviewed by Claire Roderick
2**
Forced Entertainment love to challenge their audience, but Out of Order is more of an endurance test – for both audience and performers.
Six clowns in identical tartan suits enter the bare stage and sit around a conference table, Someone’s Gonna Cry strikes up, and one clown leaps up in anger and starts chasing another around the stage. The others block the assailant’s path and eventually calm them down and return to the table before someone else jumps up and launches themselves at another clown. The physical comedy is fantastic, but this goes on for a long time until the clowns distract themselves with balloons and horns, before this also turns into a battle.
The ridiculous lengths that the clowns go to in order to reach each other are very funny, and the physical commitment of the cast is incredible. The painted faces get more and more smeared and hair and suits become more and more dishevelled as the mysterious antagonism continues. Between the mayhem there are plenty of quiet moments of reflection and sometimes despair as the clowns gather their thoughts, and these are very effective. The clowns’ need to be part of a troupe results in mindless parades carrying chairs and tables around the stage, with a single clown reacting with exasperation at the nonsensical work, but still joining in.
The return to the initial chase around the table elicited a few groans, but the new soundtrack of the Blue Danube creates a less frantic, more gentle tone with some fantastic waltz and twirl gags.
There are some inspired moments and the performances are brilliant, but every section goes on for slightly too long. I loved the silliness and sadness of Out of Order, but this is a 45-minute show stretched to breaking point in its current 75 minutes running time.