Jane Sutcliffe tells Jo Ind about affairs of the heart in her one-woman show, to be performed on Valentine's Day at the Mac.

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The latest show from Birmingham-based physical theatre company Metaphysique could not be more appropriate for Valentine's Day. It is poetic. It is lyrical. It is about the journey of the heart.

Jane Sutcliffe, from Edgbaston, has devised a show called Cupid's Strongest Bow, in which she uses mime to chart the human quest from birth to death.

Her main prop is a heart and the central motif of the drama is her struggle to work out where to wear it - on her belly as a baby, on her crotch as a teenager, on her sleeve as a young adult. . .

The show includes a tale of romantic love, of course, but does not romanticise it - so to speak.

In telling the story of the heart from babyhood and following it through to death, Cupid's Strongest Bow sets romance in a more profound, grounded and spiritual context.

The other element that rescues the show from sentimentality, is the figure of the clown.

Jane, who founded Metaphysique and who studied clowning at the Lecoq school in Paris, tells the story from a clown's viewpoint.

This adds the key-notes of humour, anarchy, wisdom, abandon and audacity to the mood. It also offers a different perspective.

"It would get stuck without the clown," says Jane. "I think you've got to make it playful."

Jane has devised the show, which is funded by the Art's Council, with the help of director John Wright, author of Why is Life so Funny?

"The clown is very honest," he says. "If the clown's upset, the clown cries. All masks are taken off. There's timeless wisdom in the clown, infinite play."

Jane also worked with John on her earlier solo show, Soul in a Suitcase, which she performed at Mac six years ago.

Cupid's Strongest Bow is a more mature version of Soul in a Suitcase, following a similar theme but covering a greater emotional range.

"It has much darker areas but it is funnier too," says John. "It has the audience squirming one moment and laughing the next. It is a play about the resilience of the human spirit. This kernel of humanity that seems to help us get along, which is charming, stupid, naive, childlike, grumpy and ultimately, in this case, optimistic."

The show is opening at the MAC tomorrow and will tour after that.

It is a tour-de-force for Jane, who also worked with Mike Wright of Circomedia, Bristol and musician Pete Williams, formerly of Dexy's Midnight Runners, in creating the show, but who performs it by herself.

"I like playing the clown, but I don't particularly like doing a solo show," says Jane. "I'm not scared of performing on my own but it's not my first choice. I like being part of a company.

"Cupid's Strongest Bow is a solo show because of the subject matter. The solo performance is the best way of telling the story."

At the moment Jane has no plans for her work beyond Cupid's Strongest Bow.

"I want to grow this first," she says. "It's being launched tomorrow. I don't know how it will go, but I think it will play for some time.

"The great thing about having experience is that I know I can hold an audience just by playing.

"With this show I've got all these lovely thing to play with. The most important thing is my pleasure in playing, that I get there and enjoy it."

* Cupid's Strongest Bow is at Mac tomorrow at 8pm.