Memory can be a funny thing.  And Posthumous Works, which comes from Copenhagen, via Germany, Luxembourg, Holland and France before finally arriving in Bristol on a beloved bicycle, is a very funny thing indeed.

Ivan Hansen who co-wrote and performs the piece also personally greets people  individually at the door and with a beguiling, child-like but assured hand, leads the audience along a series of warm, tender vignettes to a world of living memories tinged with nostalgia, and always punctuated with loud laughter. Lost love, regretful goodbyes, a loving grandfather as well as the sheer exuberance of biking with childhood friends are all captured and wistfully played out.

The set is bare, except for a small table with a gramophone and tea cup, but these simple items become instruments of wonder as Ivan gives his own personal tour of the universe, albeit mostly emanating from the innocent picture box image that is painted of Denmark.

If there is a theme in the playful memories that are so engagingly recalled, it is the universal nature of the theme of loss.  Ivan speaks movingly of not getting the opportunity to say goodbye and the audience don’t know whether to laugh or cry with him as he waves to them in the first fifteen minutes, just in case he misses out again later on.  The show is not tinged with sadness at all though, and Hansen’s wide eyed, clowning reminded me of a more charming and naïve Norman Wisdom as he disarmed the audience with a lilting delivery and slightly off centre pronunciation.

This is an uninhibited and joyful expression of the wonder of life and all that it can bring, often with a folksy Danish expression that perfectly captures the essence of human existence in all its simplicity and futility.

Out of Balanz is an international ensemble of growing renown and this piece, created by Hansen with additional writing credits by director Katrina Bugaj as well as the magnificently named Troels Hagen Findsen premiered at the Birmingham European Festival 2010 where it won Hansen the Best Male Performer Award.  It is clear that no words are wasted and no stories are superfluous as the show delivers a finely honed, concise dose of unapologetic whimsy.  It’s almost a case of Whimsy Galore.

One magical moment drew gasps from the audience when Hansen wound up the ancient (but new to him) gramophone and conjured up a poignant image of his dancing grandfather made young again.  It was a simple yet entirely unexpected moment and worked like a dream.

The entire production delights and in Ivan Hansen the piece has a perfectly polite, inviting host.  He even serves up individual sips of Gammel Dansk, a traditional Danish bitter, at the end of the evening and the audience leaves the theatre having met a strange, captivating new friend.

Memory can indeed be a funny thing and this charming production will live long in my own.    ★★★★☆     Bryan Mason     13^th April 2016