one4review | On 14, Aug 2026

The promotional material for A Clown’s Lullaby suggests it will be “a hilariously rib-tickling clown performance for younglings” and that it’s suitable for 5+, this is exactly what I was expecting as I queued with my 5-year-old, however in queue the performer, a lovely clown who seems to be playful and mischievous starts to show actual war footage from Ukraine, explosions and combat on her phone to families waiting to go in. Something doesn’t feel right, and as a parent, I wondered if we’d joined the wrong queue, as it should be obvious to anyone how wildly inappropriate it is to expose a five-year-old to genuine war footage under the guise of a family clown show. This is blatant false advertising.

There is no music or specific lighting changes to build or soften any atmosphere inside the tent, so the show is left feeling rather flat, despite the performer giving her all. What’s so odd and jarring is how in one moment the performer is acting sweetly and blowing us kisses but then is getting children on stage for a finger gun battle where they can’t stop playing until they perform dying well enough, then we all have to play along sadly. At one point members of the audience are asked too lie down and close their eyes, clothes are laid out next to them and you realise you’re looking at a graveyard and if you’re child has been asked to lie down you can imagine how shocking it is to realise this is a way to shock audiences into seeing dead children on stage, it’s not subtle at all, it’s dark and this whole show is a Trojan horse, leading you into a fun, bright clown show only to be reminded about the horrors of war. Just a reminder, the promotional material says you’ll “P*ss yourself laughing” – I wasn’t laughing.

The most shocking moment, as if dead children weren’t enough, we are asked to bundle up clothes and hold them like a babies, we then watch the clown take out a finger gun and pretend to shoot the baby, followed by some red clown nose paint being placed on it before the clown looks at the audience and delivers a monologue about “the world not listening and they aren’t clowns”. Just a reminder, this is a review for a 2pm clown show for 5+ listed in the Children’s Shows section of the Fringe website. If this was advertised to teens and adults and sold accurately as a proactive children’s show about war, I’d be writing something very different. One of the children in the audience was so scared to join the stage she started crying. When she did eventually join two other children on stage, they were all asked to share horrible experiences they’d had in life. Reminder: this is a kids’ show.

There is a thinly veiled political story: the clown’s friend ‘Loo Kraynina ‘, who is being bullied by ‘Mr Bellicose ‘, is calling and crying loudly down the phone as if in real pain and following the war footage is a whiplash for the audience from the clown blowing us kisses; it’s genuinely distressing. Eventually the clown tells us she ignores the calls as they are “too hard” and instead of a fun upbeat finale, we have that guilt trip monologue. I get it, how can anyone enjoy the Fringe while war is waging, the world isn’t in a great place politically at the moment but to deliver this message at 2pm to children while families are just trying to escape the media (As their own poster states: “Tired of the news? Need a break? Become a clown!”) is so heavy handed and alienating.

As we left, my child simply said, “What was that?!” and I couldn’t agree more. I’ve since checked the flyer, poster and website, and nothing mentions this level of provocative material being shown or discussed, and there is no warning. The performer tries hard, but they are let down by the lack of music and totally inappropriate material for this age group. If you are a parent looking for a happy, silly clown show, you need to give this one a wide berth.

I worry ultimately that selling tickets to a 5+ comedy and then ambushing very young families before they can vet anything or have a choice on what their child sees isn’t just an edgy artistic choice; it’s completely false advertising and a safeguarding failure. Venues and shows have a duty of care to protect children from this kind of distressing material, and then smacking us with trauma theatre in what should be a fun and light family show completely ignores that responsibility. Unless you want to explain the grim reality of international conflict to your primary schooler.

Reviewed by Matthew
Pip at Rotunda Theatre
Until 18 August
14.00