Scaramouche Jones theatre review: Humanity through time
The tragicomic, age-old clown journeys through his life in a deeply moving reflection on the interplay between joy and suffering and what it means to be alive
In this ‘search for the next big thing’ mindset that shadows Edinburgh, it takes an act of bravery to bring back a 25-year-old show about a 100-year-old clown’s last night on earth. Thankfully, Justin Butcher is full of courage, with a barnstorming performance full of imagination and emotion. His self-penned script is a thing of wonder too: rich, replete with detail, making you want to pause the show and rewind almost every line, giving it space to sit with you.
At its heart, Scaramouche Jones is a play about the human condition: the endless beauty and unimaginable horrors that come with simply being alive. Scaramouche’s seven masks, all relating to different periods in his life, are carefully unpeeled and unpacked, as Butcher’s lithe physicality conjures up whole worlds with a change of position or accent. Naturally, there’s a lot of life lived in 100 years and the gift of this show is that we get to live them alongside Scaramouche, the time alternately flying by or stretching to contain enormous emotion. This is compelling stuff, stunning in its breadth yet with a universal quality, no matter how wild the flights of fancy become. Exactly what the Fringe is made for, in other words.
Scaramouche Jones, Assembly St Andrew Square, until 30 August, 4.10pm.