Nothing Is Really Difficult features three men (Toon Kuijpers, Dorus van der Meer and Bart Strijbos from Dutch Theatergroep WAK) and an audience in a box – a very big box!
On arriving at the venue, a space just outside the George Square Theatre, we find the upside-down wooden box. We know it’s upside down because there is a ‘this way up’ sign stencilled on it, upside down. The box is roughly made, bare wood, square, and about twenty-feet tall. Sitting on the top of the box is a man with a jigsaw making flyers out of bits of wood for the crowd below. These flyers (surely the best on the Fringe?) are made in funny shapes, including one called an ‘arrowphant’. He throws the flyers down to his two colleagues who hand them to the audience, whilst clowning and fooling around. Come performance time, those with tickets are guided into the box and informed that once inside there is no getting out. Already there is a frisson of expectation and nervous giggles.
Once inside the box we find, well, an empty box a bit like a giant packing crate but with wooden raked seating and a lighting rig. On the left and right of the stage area are two doors which swing both ways. The lights go down – more nervous giggles – and strange lights shine up from under the floorboards. It’s very quiet and we sit mesmerised. Then, the floor suddenly and shockingly lurches up at the corner, coming away from the wall with a crack, revealing a man trying to crawl up from under the floor. He becomes aware of the audience and stands staring in panic, not knowing what to say or do. In fact, much of the performance consists of the three performers in a state of panic, on the verge of speaking or action but not quite getting there, exploding finally in a fit of manic action. As one leaves, another slams in from a different direction, which could be up, down or sideways, or sometimes even through the walls or ceiling – the box is not as empty as it looks.
They are brilliant mimes and clowns, and their acrobatic skills are impressive – as the title suggests nothing is really difficult for this group of extraordinarily talented performers. Their comic timing is precise to the point of wonder. At one moment, a hole explodes in the roof, followed by a shower of debris. A rope is let down, and we expect a performer to climb or drop down. The performer on the floor looks up, we look up, a beat – and then, somehow shockingly, the rope falls to the floor. We gasp and erupt in applause.
Just like the Three Stooges or Marx Brothers, this threesome are a classic clown trio, playing with hierarchies, always in competition and trying to outdo one another in an effort to impress the audience. Confusion and misapprehension rule. One bends down in a position that looks like he wants to give another a leg up. Instead of accepting the offer, he bends down and turns to the third, who looks at the others and copies their pose. Now all three are in the same position, clutching their crotches and looking very embarrassed. This look of embarrassment and apology is a constant of the show. The silent mime is only broken once, which is in itself shocking and unexpected. Invention drives the performance with one awe-inspiring idea followed by another, always perfectly executed. It would have to be, as any slip looks like it would be extremely dangerous. When props do eventually make their way into the box they are wittily and imaginatively used, somehow always a shock, one skit suddenly turning into something else just when we least expect it. The humour becomes more offbeat and surreal as the piece progresses.
Interestingly Toon Kuijpers describes himself on the company website as ‘a playing-maker… I work with my body as a starting point’ which I think sums up what much of the performance is about – playing and making, transforming one thing into another, always with the performer and their physicality at its heart.
Nothing Is Really Difficult is an almost-perfect rollercoaster ride of a show that feels like it’s over all too soon. The audience emerges blinking and breathless back out into the sunlight, with a look on their faces that says they have just witnessed something unique – something very special.