Paper World Show, Mimirichi

Of course, not all clowns are evil. (I’m obliged to say that, in case the clown mobsters order a custard-pie hit.) Mimirichi: Paper World, known colloquially as “the weird Ukrainian clowns who rip bits of paper up”, is a case in point. We’re not talking origami here: Mimirichi are full-on scrunchers and shredders, destroying their paper-clad set over 80 minutes. This is a slow-burner of a show. It begins with a shadow-play featuring a man about to be crushed by a giant boot, then ambles soporifically to its mid-point. But the moment the four clowns stop passing paper between themselves and start chucking it into the stalls, the atmosphere changes. The ensuing paper-fight ends with the audience passing a huge sheet of the stuff to the back row, then to the front again. Call it manipulative, but the switch from anarchy to co-operation sent a tingle down the spine and brought the room to its feet.

Adrian Turpin, The Sunday Times, Uk