Dark Clown 2-Day Workshop with Peta Lily
Circus Factory is delighted to host a workshop in Dark Clown with award-winning performer/ theatre maker: Peta Lily. There are no workshops like this in Ireland to gain more insight into dark clowning and work with renowned expert Peta Lily.
Workshop Details
The workshop will cover the basics of Clown, how to enter Clown state, some techniques in mime and physical comedy, some movement techniques, some techniques for improvisation, the principles of laughter creation and management, audience awareness, rhythm work, the concept of play.
Once the comedy craft that supports the ‘Troubled Laughter’ is in place, the course moves on to introduce the concept and explore the practice of Dark Clown. A step by step approach guides the participants there.
Dark Clown work is always taught at the first level as Clown & Dark Clown. The work begins with Red Nose Clown work to establish common understanding, openness and play within the group and to install comedy craft techniques which will be used over on the Dark Side.
The teaching has special emphasis on rhythm, texture, phrasing, musicality and also audience awareness, laughter creation and tension management. The work is taught with a well-judged balance of challenge and support. Suitable for beginners as well as more advanced participants – students are worked at their individual level within the group. For groups where people are experienced in Clown work, some steps such as how to enter Clown state can be omitted.
ISACS are offering two bursaries to attend this workshop.
This workshop is supported by Circus Factory, Dance Cork Firkin Crane, ISACS and the Arts Council.
About Dark Clown
Dark Clown is a new Clown genre which stretches clown work into more challenging subjects. Dark Clown is a darker kind of humour, a way to create clown characters and ensembles with more edge and relevance. It is a way to make a more exciting and demanding rapport with audiences and – it provides a way to deal with the dark absurdities of the world, when drama and sentiment are not enough.
Lily's Dark Clown work retains respect for the subject matter and includes more marginalised emotions - creating an intriguing and enriching experience for performer and audience alike.
While the Red Nose clown performs out of sheer exuberance, Dark Clown performs under a harsher compulsion. The Red Nose Clown has no past and bounces back from pratfalls, slaps and accidents. The Dark Clown has seen it all, feels it all and has no choice but to ‘sell’ his own pain for our entertainment. One experiences wonder, the other gazes at the abyss. The audience laughs freely at the Red Nose Clown, but watching Dark Clown the audience laughs while asking themselves: 'Should I really be laughing at this?' This is the ‘Troubled Laughter’ which is a hallmark of Dark Clown.
Who is this workshop For?
The target of the workshop is intermediate. You don't necessarily need to have a lot of experience within clowning. But need to have a certain amount of years performing, be comfortable in improvisation, theatre and play.
The Clown & Dark Clown workshop is taught with specificity and precision as well as with fun and compassion.
The work is intended for performers and performers-in-formation. There are many valuable techniques to learn, understand and build confidence in applying. The Dark Clown section of the work is not work for the sentimental or faint-hearted. It requires openness and playful courage. The Dark Clown work helps performers portray the darker emotions including distress, guilt, pain, shame and existential horror (this is imaginative work, no emotional recall is required), and then to apply the rules of comedy to create the ‘Troubled Laughter’ which is the hallmark of the work.
Please be aware that some moments of the course can be noisy.
Are there any pre-requirements to attend?
The target of the workshop is intermediate. You don't necessarily need to have a lot of experience within clowning but to have a few years of performing experience and be comfortable in improvisation. Be open and to create a safe space within the workshop.
Why You Should Attend the Dark Clown Workshop:
* Increased confidence and courage
* A way to access a wider range of emotions safely
* An invigorating experience for the imagination
* Better audience play and more agile play with others
* Increased authenticity and ability to be in the moment
* Greater control of tension and release
* Heightened awareness of rhythm, phrasing & texture applied to performance
* Extra inspiration for creating new theatre work
* A greater understanding of laughter
* Provides a way to implicate as well as entertain audiences
What Should You Bring?
* Dress for movement. Socks or very soft soled shoes. Bring layers to allow for changes in temperature and a variety of activities or to stay warm when seated watching work.
* Bring a water bottle (and a keep cup for tea/coffee).
Circus Factory has a microwave, kettle and small kitchen. The Marina Market Food Hall is also just across the road.
Lunch 1PM - 2PM
Location: Circus Factory
Day: Monday & Tuesday | January 6th & 7th
Time: 10AM – 6PM
Suitable for ages: 18+
Price: €120*
In order for Peta Lily to plan for the workshop and for you to get the most out of it, we need you to complete the questionnaire in plenty of time ahead of the workshop.
*
10% Students and Unwaged Discount Code at check out: CFCONC10%
10% Discount for Practitioner Members
20% Discount for Professional Members
About Peta Lily:
This award-winning performer/theatre maker was one of the key figures in the early Physical Theatre movement; well-known for her solo career with well-reviewed shows including Wendy Darling, Beg, Topless, Midriff, Invocation and Chastity Belt. She also worked with the David Glass Ensemble- and with Claire Dowie. She has toured the UK, Europe, Mexico, Indonesia, Argentina, Chile, Hong Kong, Australia and Brazil.
1988 Fringe First winning show Wendy Darling was cited in The Road to the Never Land: A Reassessment of J M Barrie's Dramatic Art by R.D.S. Jack. 1992 show, Beg was cited in Feminist Stages: Interviews with Women in Contemporary British Theatre by Lizbeth Goodman and Jane De Gay. Chastity Belt was featured in Lois Norman's award-winning documentary She is Juiced (premiere: Tate Britain 2017). Lily’s early work is cited in: Mime into Physical Theatre: A UK Cultural History 1970-2000 by Mark Evans and Simon Murray (Routledge). Lily contributed to Notes on Creation, (Katapult, Berlin) compiled by Oli Pinchbeck and Declan Mee.
Lily trained with Jacques Lecoq, Philippe Gaulier, Monika Pagneux, Desmond Jones School of Mime, Yoshi Oida, Carlo Boso (Commedia dell 'Arte), Theatre du Mouvement (Mime Corporeal), Sankai Juku and Natsu Nakajima (Butoh Dance), Mike Alfreds (Theatre Direction) and Cantonese Opera with Master Yeung Kim-Wah.
Lily teaches at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and London College of Fashion (Costume Design for Performance MA). She has also taught at Circus Space (NCCA), The Actor's Centre, Central Saint Martins, École Philippe Gaulier, Guildford School of Acting, Mountview Theatre School and ArtsEd School of Acting, London. She served seven years as Auditions Chair at RCSSD. She also teaches theatre courses including: Take It Further; Comedy Toolbox; Commedia dell’ Arte; Clown & Dark Clown; Level 2 Dark Clown; Mask & Movement and The Alchemy of Archetypes.
As a director, works include award-winning Je Regrette for Sarah-Louise Young, Famished for Lost in Translation Circus, A Touch of Mrs. Robinson for Fiona Coffey, Rough Magic for LCF at Wilton's Music Hall, Rhythm Town for Juggling on Tap, Cabaret from the Shadows for Teatro Pomodoro, Loneliness Street Cabaret for Beautiful Mess Theatre, Hamlet or Die and The Death of Fun both at the Hong Kong Fringe, The Maids, Low in the Dark and Bertolt for Tryfus and Meta in Portugal, and About the Oranges for Robbie Gringras, Israel. She was movement director for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead at the Library Theatre, Manchester and The Beloved for Cambridge Touring Theatre. She directed Strange Forces and everyday everyday at NCCA. She has written plays The Porter’s Daughter (Cockpit Theatre and NTC tour), Blame (Teatro Mechanis, Athens) and Random Oracle (Unity Theatre, Liverpool). She also works as a creative mentor to artists including circus trailblazer John-Paul Zaccarini, StumbleTrip Theatre Company and Laura Vanhulle Dance.
Lily has developed a new genre: Dark Clown. Her paper The Comedy of Terrors– Dark Clown & Enforced Performance was delivered at the Bath Spa University and her work is cited in Jon Davison’s Clown (Readings in Theatre Practice) Palgrave MacMillan 2013. Award-winning documentary maker Robert Golden made a short film about the work- Peta Lily’s Dark Clown: Taking Laughter to the Limits. Lily has worked as Dark Clown consultant for Acrojou’s Wake and also for Jammy Voo’s Birdhouse. Lily’s latest project features a Drag King persona Parker Dee– both Digital Performance on YouTube @parkerdeeking and a live in-person show ‘intelligent and hilarious’ (debuted Helsinki Feb 2023)