Clown Lights Stage is a multi-form physical comedy performed by Alice Mary Cooper. Cooper’s unsuspecting star, Clown, begins by explaining that Alice cannot make it to the show due to an accident. She then takes the audience on an adventure through the objects that fill Alice’s handbag, attempting to find new meaning in everything from teabags to tampons.

A more “serious” slideshow on the history of theatre screens in the background as Clown struggles to make sense of it with her quirky analysis. Clown finds odd ways to explore the items, to the point where she misreads the instructions on a jar of Nutella and then begins spreading it all over her arms, legs and face. Another example is Clown attempting to eat a full English breakfast (i.e., an English breakfast teabag). As far as I can recall, this pretty sums up the remainder of the performance.

As the forty-minute solo show progressed I found myself becoming increasingly disengaged. Cooper’s Clown was not without a sense of charisma, though much of the humor tended to enter the realm of the irrelevant. I felt that Cooper’s performance could have benefited from a more conventional structure, as each fragment’s position within the whole seemed arbitrary and nonsensical.

I have no doubts about Cooper’s talents as a performer. However, much of the substance in Clown Lights Stage (i.e., the writing) seemed to fall short and borderline on being safe and obvious. Cooper’s Clown didn’t offend me and that was the problem.