YELLOW WEATHER WARNING ISSUED

AHEAD OF THE RETURN OF HIS HIT SHOW TO BIRMINGHAM, RUSSIAN CLOWN SLAVA POLUNIN INVITES DIANE PARKES INTO THE FANTASTICAL WORLD OF HIS HOME IN FRANCE

- DIANE PARKES

TO my right a red piano and red pianist glide past on a green raft, floating on a murky river and playing music into the air. In the distance I can hear the drums and whoops of a carnival of fools as they dance through the trees. And I've left behind a clown riding a bicycle which pumps out bubbles to a courtyard full of excited children.

In front of me sits the man responsible for this garden of delights - Slava Polunin. With his trademark white whiskers sticking out at right angles from his cheeks, a fool’s cap on his head and his eyes painted with black and white, Slava is every inch the clown - and all that is happening around us is part of his world of fantasy and phantasmagoria.

This weekend, Slava has turned his home outside Paris, the 18th century Yellow Windmill, and its 10 hectares of grounds into the Pulcinella Festival, celebrating the historic commedia dell’arte character who has featured in theatre for centuries. Strolling through the gardens are hundreds of visitors dressed in fantastical costumes and speaking a host of different languages, here to step into Slava’s imagination for a few hours.

This is a world which also inspired his most successful touring stage production, Slava’s Snowshow ,which comes to Birmingham's Alexandra Theatre from November 11-15.

First staged in 1993, Slava’s Snowshow is an international phenomenon which has been seen by audiences in more than 60 countries across Europe, the Americas, the Far East, Australasia and Asia.

Focusing on the adventures and interactions of a group of Yellow Clowns and Green Clowns, the production is a blend of slapstick comedy, heart-wrenching tenderness, dramatic spectacle and moments of wonder.

Slava’s Snowshow has received awards from across the globe including an Olivier for Best Entertainment and a Time Out Award for Best Show.