These two weeks addresses different things: the use of the state of clowning in tragic and serious theatre, maintaining the state of clowning for longer periods of time and several physical theatre techniques and exercises.

The opportunity to experiment with the state of clowning in tragic and or mainstream theatre, offering different angles for the performers to explore.

The exercises explore themes like: death, betrayal, jealousy, abandonment, rape, violence, murder and many other serious subjects.

The use of the state of clowning in such themes brings a completely other dynamic to the approach in the way that certain scenes and /or characters are conceived and played. It also offers theatre practitioners many other tools and choices to enhance their performance and the way they think about their work. It gives them courage to pursue emotions and situations that are not comfortable, but nevertheless mirrors life as it is. Again, we are looking for ways to make the practitioner’s work more truthful and to reveal the most sincere elements of the human nature.

This workshop has an emphasis on exploring how clown training can prepare actors for performing plays which are not generally regarded as comic. When viewing a serious drama the audience is often encouraged to engage with the characters on stage, following their experiences and, perhaps, experiencing some form of catharsis.

What this workshop offers is to establish how that emotional engagement can be heightened by incorporating clowning techniques in training, rehearsal and performance. Central to the work is to incorporate the clown’s inherent naivety, bafflement and optimism to intensify the emotions felt by the audience. When we watch a hero or heroine moving inexorably towards some catastrophe, how much worse might it be if throughout, the performer can convince us of the character’s optimism and belief that the catastrophe can be avoided. The impact of this will be greater on the audience when they, from their vantage point, can see that the character is irretrievably doomed.

Earlier examples of fooling can be found in Shakespeare (for example the Fool in Lear). This demonstrates a writer’s awareness of the possibilities of juxtaposing an alternative vision of the world with the tragic disintegration of the protagonist. What modern clown techniques can offer is a whole new way of communicating that vision to the audience.

The contribution that clowning can make in training non-comic actors has long been underestimated and this workshop brings a model of integrating actor’s training, drawing on clowning to provide responsive and, potentially, playful actors who are able to perform a broad range of dramatic texts successfully. As is evident from the already existing use of clown training in both therapy and corporate settings there will also be a personal impact on actors trained in this way.

Taken together, the professional and personal development which clown-based training offers to actors can contribute more broadly to them and, therefore, their audience’s human and social understanding.

The potential for cultural impact is therefore significant. If we change the way we train actors; we change the way they perform and if we change the way our actors perform then we can change theatre.

To find out more about course dates, register your interest and join the mailing list, please visit www.thewhynotinstitute.com