Buffoon – Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse, Sheffield

Writer: Anosh Irani

Director: Aisha Khan

Buffoon won the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play in 2019. Now, thanks to Aisha Khan Productions, it makes it European debut at the Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse in Sheffield.

We meet Felix, a (former?) circus performer – we’re not entirely sure where he is but we assume it might be prison. We have no idea what he might have done to have ended up there. He takes us back to when he was born and tells his life story of growing up in the circus – absent parents, teen romance and becoming a father.

Anosh Irani has done a remarkable job at creating an array of complex characters, despite this being a one-man play. The play takes a long time to get going but when the emotions raise, it becomes moving and impactful. Irani’s language is wonderfully descriptive, transporting us magically to the heart of the circus. This is elevated by Alexandra Stafford’s outstanding lighting design, as well as Matthew Bugg’s detailed and precise sound design. Better use could have been made of the framing device of the play being a retrospective from a prison cell, but when the full truth of the framing device comes into view, it lands well.

Director Aisha Khan ensures what could become quite a stationary production definitely doesn’t. The whole space is used well, bringing in the audience on all three sides of the stage. She knows which moments need movement and which need stillness and uses this variety well.

The play is performed by Daniel Weyman as Felix (and all the other characters we meet!). Given this is Weyman’s first one-person play, his performance is remarkable. He is tremendous voice actor, giving each character a different and entirely believable accent. He has immense control of his body, supported by Joyce Henderson’s movement direction. He lands a fair few laughs well due to his natural humour but really shines in the later scenes when the emotional stakes raise.

Buffoon is an example of how cast and creative team can unite to stage a very strong production – almost every element of this production is at the top of its game. However, despite the show being moving and entertaining, your reviewer left wondering why this story needed to be told. It didn’t seem to have as much to say about the world we live in as one might have hoped.

Runs until 18th July 2026