… ONE DAY I REALISED that I wanted to create a show that would take us back to our childhood dreams; A show that would help t ... he spectators be released from the jail of adulthood the children they once were… I went down a road very few clowns had trodden before, to extend the tentacles of clownery and foolishness where they were least expected to show up. I wanted to dive inside tragicomedy, to measure the extent to which one can fuse drama with laughter. I wanted to immerse myself entirely in this Gogol & Beckett-like language and reunite in my character character both the epic and lyrical, tenderness and passion, wisdom and naïveness. I began to slow down my rhythm, to value insignificant gestures that now seemed to me far more expressive and colourful than pompous or solemn ones. I grew fond of unfinished gestures, interrupted, frozen, as if cut short by a sudden thought. My character's make-up gradually evolved, too: The regular white ovals of surprise around the eyes and the mouth got replaced by dark, muddled shapes; the features of the whole face sank, and the pert snub nose turned into a drooping plum. My costume crumpled up and became huge and shabby. My gentle and moving Assissiaï grew up with me, became pensive and hesitant. Then, one day, this show came to life. It was 1993. Since, millions of spectators from all over the world, from dozens of countries, have experienced this masterpiece that has been performed thousands and thousands of times, and received a great many awards. This show is a beloved child, I hope not to part from, for it never ceases to surprise and puzzle me over and over again by the innumerable mysteries it conceals. It can spread joy and sorrow, to entertain and move you to tears. In many ways this show has allowed me to know myself; it is a major landmark in my life. Slava Polunin read more