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

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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.

Many in the audiences are return visitors and that, Slava says, is because no two performances are exactly alike.

“The show is like jazz, there are notes and points but then you can do whatever you want,’ he explains. “When you understand your audience you change it, you hold the moments.

“It's not like a comedy where you have repetition of the same gags. It’s very important for us to have the mood and the atmosphere of each performance. People come, not to see what is happening in the scene because a lot of people have already seen the performance and are returning again and again, but because they want to experience what we create - this special atmosphere, this childish feeling of happiness, liberty, joy and playfulness.”