Julia Masli Photo by Andy Hollingworth

The show is new every night, so there isn't any reason to fear plot disclosure as you read on. Masli is dressed in blue. She wears an adorned bike helmet and she is able to see audience members through an attached light which focuses upon them. She has affixed an artificial leg, which is placed where she otherwise would have a left arm. She begins by spotting someone sitting in the house and she simply says, "ha ha ha ha ha ha," with the expectation that her chosen observer will respond. When he does with his own "ha" the figurative ice instantly breaks.

For much of the time, Masli proceeds in what resembles the slow walk technique Tadashi Suzuki fashioned as part of his actor training. When necessary, Masli does accelerate a bit. She utters a word which, at first, is indecipherable, but, when she enunciates more clearly, is "problem." The sympathetic/empathetic clown asks people watching to share with her. A young man indicates that he is a problem since he is not following instructions with his grandmother's garden. Someone says he sleeps poorly and she ushers him on stage, brings out a bed, face mask, and headphones, and he takes a rest–for the entirety of the performance.

Someone else steps onto the stage boards and Masli asks him to try to fix a chair she wrecked. It is splintered, but he spends close to an hour skillfully attempting to put it together. Soon, we hear that a woman's shoulders are sore since she, a carpenter, has spent part of the day building it for the current production. A massage therapist in the crowd comes on stage with her to provide relief.

Masli finds a woman who explains that she misses her family. This theatre patron takes out her phone and calls her mother. Through the phone speaker and Masli's microphone, everyone hears the conversation. The mother wishes the daughter would visit and offers a reminder that February would be a good time to do so. The theme of the call turns to happiness and sadness. Asked to explain, the mother advises everyone listening that "happiness is like an oscillating wave." Call this a precious, perspicacious moment, one which is fittingly poetic. Emotions rise and fall.

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha> is oftentimes noted for its comedy. To be sure, opening night at Yale Repertory included some hilarious sequences, such as a pizza flying forth from high above to help out someone who said he was hungry. Toward the end of her performance, Masli asked for socks and a number of people added theirs to a collection. Still, this particular evening was thoughtful and even melancholic. Julia Masli brings rhythm and balance and, even during quiet moments, exudes her distinctive presence.

While she has performed many, many times, each presentation is delightfully unique. She and co-director Kim Noble (who must have been pivotal in shaping this work) transport certain props (bed, tools, a standing shower) from place to place. Masli is masterfully improvisational even if she really cannot anticipate what will occur next. She speaks in a soft voice which, when amplified through a microphone, projects well into the house. One does sense this clown's own vulnerability. A telling sequence finds Masli toting a few artificial leg pieces and she asks someone to try and make a sculpture out of them. A willing young woman accepts the challenge, takes to the stage, sits down with the legs and tape, and tries her hand. Julia Masli wishes that she "rebuild a broken world." Near the end of the performance, the woman lifts up her creations, brings the leg sculptures to those seated in an auxiliary first row, and those theatregoers pass them to others seated behind. It's quite a moving sight.

Finally, a man seated in that initial row of seats explains that he worries because his family is in Caracas, Venezuela. Masli closes the opening night at Yale Rep by soulfully embracing this individual, whose name is Roberto.

You've never experienced an 85 minute performance which is more hypnotically affecting.

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha runs through February 7, 2026, at Yale Repertory Theatre, 1120 Chapel St., New Haven CT. For tickets and information, please call 2203-432-1234 or visit Yalerep.org.