Theatrical clowning is character-oriented and explores the dynamics of the clown’s reactions to the world which rejects them, exacerbating their perpetual failure. Clowns are social misfits: they fail to fully integrate into society and the groups in which they operate. Clowns represent outsiders who fail to understand the established order and the rules it dictates. As a result, they disrupt rules which leads them to absurd, comic and idiotic situations.
Clowning is a rich and excellent tool for actors and performers of various disciplines. It stretches the performer’s imagination and teaches to embrace one’s truthful emotions, connecting with the silly and crazy side, celebrating mistakes and fragility. Clowns do not avoid failure, problems and being caught out –on the contrary, they thrive on struggle. This helps the performer to overcome a range of blocks, for example, stage fright and stay in the here and now. Clowning encourages the performer to become more generous, playful and genuine, being complicit with the audience and other performers, finding a game and joy in every challenge they face.
More about ensemble clowning in BPTP’s blog.