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Heading Into Night: A clown ode on… (forgetting)

 
Ross Anthony Review by Ross Anthony 3 Published: 16 Aug 2025 C ARTS | C venues | C alto Show Dates: 11 Aug 2025-17 Aug 2025

I really enjoyed Heading Into Night – it felt exactly the sort of farce that sits well at the Fringe. Daniel Passer gives an excellent performance as the principal clown in the production. He strikes just the right tone: harmless, sympathetic, and entirely watchable as he rolls through a series of increasingly bizarre situations that only ever seem to beset a sad clown on a bad day. His depiction doesn’t push too hard in any direction, keeping the character likeable and engaging.

There are glimmers of greatness here, and it’s world-class clowning that just needs that final layer of polish.

You want to root for him, and you're only too eager to find out what’s inside the many, many boxes on stage, which he rootles through with real mastery.

Unfortunately, this is a very good clown in a not-quite-finished production. The clowning is great, while the routine itself feels looser – padded out in places. I also felt at least one of the other cast members could have been cut, particularly given he only plays the same riff on the guitar a couple of times. Again and again, I felt like the performance wasn’t really going anywhere – and I really wanted it to.

If you’re going to commit to silence, I think you really ought to commit to it. In the final minutes, Passer speaks – and slightly undermines the persona he’s so diligently built over the past 50 minutes.

All of that said, I’ll be going back to this performance in six months or a year. There are glimmers of greatness here, and it’s world-class clowning that just needs that final layer of polish to become something truly outstanding.

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The Blurb:

A joyous dance, irreverent and innocent at the loss of memories. Featuring internationally renowned Cirque du Soleil clown conceptor Daniel Passer and co-created and directed by award-winning director Beth F Milles, this immersive solo performance of spontaneity investigates losing track of one’s past while discovering and cherishing one’s present. The audience embarks on a surreal journey, finding hilarity, joy and unexpected revelations in the ironies of fading memory. Passer’s beautiful, whimsical performance breathes life into moments that challenge the mind, an unforgettable experience where humour transcends the challenge of forgetting.