Jessica Barton can do a lot of things. She can sing, she can act – and she is an entertaining clown, having recently studied at L’Ecole Philippe Gaulier, the premier clowning school in France.
In her debut show Dirty Work, at The Motley Bauhaus in Carlton, we meet her clown, a prim and cheeky incarnation of Mary Poppins. She arrives, large leather bag in tow, buttoned up, booted and bowler hatted, to clean the stage, which is strewn with clothing and empty beer cans.
The friendly audience on the preview night this reviewer attended were all-too willing to be drawn into her invitations to audience participation. Despite the enthusiasm of the blokes she picked out to teach an on-stage cleaning lesson, these scenes had the sense they were a hair’s breadth from disaster.
Satisfyingly, Barton steered her volunteer cleaning crew back from the brink with her ‘spit-spot’ attitude, and lots of laughs were had from her ability to improvise her way out of some sticky situations.
While there is a lot to like about the show (and Barton, who is a charismatic performer) what begins as a promising clowning performance ends up in dramatic monologue territory, as the show reveals itself to be art-as-catharsis to a bad break-up. It felt like a jarring choice to be thrown into tear-filled exposition after a lengthy performance of mostly clown-mute physical comedy.
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Structural niggles aside, for a solo debut show, Dirty Work is incredibly impressive. Barton is spoilt for choice in her repertoire of skills to employ in her theatre, and she will only get better with experience. She’s an undeniably exciting emerging talent.
Jessica Barton: Dirty Work will be performed at The Motley Bauhaus until 6 April 2025 as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
