Clowns in Dystopia
Clowns in Dystopia takes place after the end.
Or just before. Or in the middle of it. It’s unclear. No one quite remembers when the world began to fall apart, only that it is an ongoing collapse. This is a post-apocalyptic story told by clowns—which in itself, should be a warning. Instead of survival guides, heroic archetypes and clear solutions, we get clowns trying to figure out what to do now.
The performance attempts to approach the major questions of our time using small means. It borrows seriousness from philosophy and method from clowning. Lofty thoughts about humanity’s future are expressed through laughter, tears, glances and bad timing. A sort of physical essay on climate anxiety, war fatigue, and why we still get up in the morning.
There is no hope here in the classical sense. No promises. No answers.
But there is something else: a stubborn will to continue being human. To laugh together when nothing feels stable anymore. To share the space, the time, and the uncomfortable laughter that arises when you realize you are not alone in feeling this way.
Clowns in Dystopia is not a dystopia one can understand.
It is a dystopia to inhabit—together with others—and perhaps, against better judgment, feel a strange relief that the world is ending for all of us at the same time.
Who are we?
Karavan is a centre for contemporary circus, physical theatre, and artistic development based in Malmö. Here we create our own performances, carry out long-term artistic projects, facilitate encounters between artists, audiences, society.
With a strong focus on experimentation, physical storytelling and contemporary issues, Karavan works both locally and internationally, often at the intersection of circus, theatre, clowning, and performance. Karavan is part of Cirkusens Hus and functions as a place where new expression take shape—sometimes finished, sometimes in progress, always in dialogue with what is relevent today.
