review: clown bar 2 @ The allways lounge twilight room

Photo: Dmitriy Pritykin

​Fool's Gold: A Review of Clown Bar 2
By Beth D’Addono

In the Clown Bar, coulrophobia - an intense fear of clowns - is the baseline for survival. If you’re not afraid of these clowns, there's no telling what could happen.

Clown Bar 2 from The Nola Project is playwright Adam Szymkowicz’s second foray into the
sordid mobster-clown underworld. It’s a dark place, a world populated by killers and cops,
hookers and racketeers. But as an alternative to the “beige life” – think living in Iowa instead of
New Orleans – it’s got heart and action. And thanks to Szymkowicz’s writing, Khiry Armstead’s
big top direction and a stellar ensemble performance, Clown Bar 2 is a hilarious study of the
absurd.

Directed as an immersive dramedy that unfolds in and around the audience, as well as onstage,
this is not a show for the literal-minded theater goer. Does it make sense that clowns kill each
other with toy guns and “bleed” streamers (amazing props made by Destiny Gotham) when they die? No, but it’s visually on point and just one of the many comic details that makes the production work.

Wearing eye-popping costumes from Shauna Leone and spot on make-up and wigs from Leslie
Claverie, the cast literally shines. They bring it – there is not a moment where their clown-dom is
in question.

If you didn’t see the original show ten years ago, not to worry, the story is easy to follow. Happy,
played with strutting exuberance by Alex Martinez Wallace, is a cop turned gangster clown who
goes missing. Two of his former colleagues show up to investigate, going “full clown”
undercover to solve the crime. A gang of western clowns led by Brigham Bill show up looking
to take over the action and sight gags and double-crossing hijinks ensue.

The Clown Bar, which boasts a cocktail list with drink descriptions like “heavy on the absinthe
and a little light in the loafers,” sets the stage for flashbacks, shoot outs, romance, and in one of
the best cameos of the evening, a loud talking mime performance by 'Cliteau, Cliteau', a tour de
force from David Sellers. There’s even a funny off-stage sex scene between the two cops, Mac,
(played by Benjamin Dougherty) and the tough-but-vulnerable Gloria (Megan Whittle).
This bar has just about every kind of clown, sex kitten clowns, singing clowns, madame clowns,
assassin clowns. Have you been to Snake and Jake’s lately?

The NOLA Project brings back a few of the original cast members, including the outstanding
Keith Claverie as sad clown Musty, the brother of the ill-fated Dusty in the first show. Acting as
a musical narrator with a classic Emmett Kelly vibe, Claverie manages to out-deadpan Steven
Wright, delivering hilarious one-liners both sung and spoken. His timing is straight-up vaudeville. Jessica Lozano is the gleefully bloodthirsty Popo – I loved her blood-spattered apron - and Natalie Boyd is multi-faceted Petunia.

Clown Bar 2 is a perfect distraction from reality, boss Petunia seeming positively presidential compared to...well, you know. The show, with its whisper of burlesque and smatterings of profanity, is for clown lovers/fearers 21 and over. As the director points out, the show is crime family friendly, not kid friendly.

Clown Bar 2 plays at the AllWays Lounge Twilight Room through June 6th. Click here for more information and ticketing. 

Beth D'Addono is the author of the excellent City Eats: New Orleans book

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