Halima Habil’s anarchic, endearing clown show has a ball with its audience
Does it get more fringe than watching a multilingual clown in a tent? Romanian-Moroccan Muslim-Jewish performer Halima Habil, aka Baba, brings a bizarre and affecting hour to Nicolson Square, complete with lip-syncing suitcases and Dirty Dancing lifts.
A lot of the show comprises movement, music and audience participation – focusing on the central theme of home, migration and compounded identities. Habil’s work has the halting, surreal quality of a dream. She reads out edicts in other languages and invites us to chase her around the stage. She pretends to give birth to a swatch of fabric. She interjects the show’s vignettes with pop songs. The meandering nature of the show makes it somewhat hard to get your bearings and at times has you wondering where it’s going. But that unsureness of what the future holds seems to be the point.
Habil is so funny that even more of the show could consist of her standing and talking. Her rapid, bright voice carries the audience through her tale: “I’m half Muslim, half Jewish and half Christian! It’s possible!” She has a wonderfully wry relationship with her viewers that makes the show feel cohesive even when it’s completely unhinged. Baba may be hard to define, but in the chaos you may see something of yourself in her.
By Maia Kahn
Photo by Silverheart Pictures
Baba runs until Monday 31 August. 8pm. PWYC (£3-£15 suggested). Hoots @ Nicolson Square, EH8 9BX. edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/baba
