OBSERVER: The Portrait

Key points

• Physical comedy has become a rare art form, but The Portrait revives it through the humour of a look or a gesture. Emilie Bloom and Tim Sneddon play two attendants guarding a room before a portrait unveiling.
• As the crowd approaches, their quirks grow more pronounced while they struggle to keep their dignity and grow irritated with each other. Creator and director Claire Bartholomew builds the piece to a climax, with a near disaster averted before the unveiling.
• Beneath the slapstick sits a satire of human pretension and prejudice.