Clowns arrested for clowning about

It's not unusual for the police to stop people for clowning about but when you are invited to Malta by the Arts Council for doing exactly that, you don't expect to be arrested!

Two professional Brazilian performers were marched to the police station in the last two days as they were performing in the hustle and bustle of Valletta's Republic Street.

Malta's lack of humour was once again conspicuous when the performers from the Brazilian troupe were at one point even temporarily ordered to steer away from the city centre.

A spokesman for the Arts Council was shocked at the bizarre reactions, though there are conflicting reports as to what temporarily landed one particular clown in police detention for three hours.

The world-renowned Projeto Rodamundo & Teatro Brucaliffo clowns were brought over for the Malta Arts Festival, which kicked off this week.

According to Elison Oliveira - one of the clowns in question - nothing of the sort has ever happened in the countries they have performed.

Wearing a red-nose, a hat and wielding a plastic caveman's club, he told The Times yesterday: "I believe people here have a different culture. I was just fooling about with the police but they evidently didn't see the funny side to it."

The police were called in by passers-by who felt they were being harassed by the clowns. Some shop owners even ordered them away claiming they were blocking their entrance.

Mr Oliveira said he probably landed himself in trouble after he jokingly made a rude gesture with his finger to a policeman while pulling a face. A passer-by who saw the "offensive" gesture immediately informed the police.

As he was being arrested, an eyewitness said he heard commuters hurling insults at the dark-skinned Brazilian, telling him to "go back to your country" and "go work elsewhere".

Though many passers-by played along with the clowns yesterday, others failed to see the funny side and some were even seen hurling abuse at them. The police were not impressed as one of the clowns apparently tried to scale the walls of a bank.

According to a spokesman for the Arts Council, the Brazilian clown was detained for about three hours on Thursday, the communication hampered by the language barrier. Another clown was taken to the Valletta police station yesterday morning until his identity was confirmed.

"These people are true professionals. They were entertaining a lot of the people but the police at one point wanted to stop everybody," the spokesman said.

When contacted, a Valletta police inspector said the police were informed that some of the clowns were "harassing" passers-by. When officers approached one of the Brazilian clowns in question he was wearing a mask. After he was ordered to remove it, the clown dashed across the street, leading the police on a wild goose chase!

The clowns will be performing around Valletta's streets until Tuesday.