3-Day Grotesque Bouffon Workshop
with Bim Mason
WHAT ARE BOUFFONS?
Bouffons are those people at the bottom of society – the rejects, the outsiders, those who have given up trying to be accepted into mainstream society and look back at it with a wry, bitter humour. Like jesters, they make fun of society, its institutions and its supposed ‘morality’ by revealing its contradictions and hypocrisy. They also make fun of each other and of the futility of human life – we all die in the end.
Grotesque bouffon particularly draws on its wider background in Mediaeval carnival, the idea that we are are both ‘gods’ (in our remarkable intellectual and creative capabilities) and also we are still animals (in our bodily functions and crude competitiveness). This double-sidedness can be used by flipping between the high and low, ‘inverting’ what is normally looked up to with what is normally despised. So, for example, ugliness is praised and beauty is disparaged.
WHAT DO BOUFFONS LOOK LIKE?
By acting as bouffons we can partially identify with the people who have been, or are now, far from the cosy, comfortable world that is the experience of most of us who live in the ‘developed’ world. One way to help us feel ‘other’ is to distort our bodies using padding to enlarge or extend certain features, another way is to use make-up and ‘rubbish’ clothing for an appearance dirt and ugliness. This is the standard approach to a bouffon costume but there are other ways using fantastical, deviance or cross-dressing which open up a more imaginative realm of being. You will be encouraged to follow your own form of craziness.
Bouffons are those people at the bottom of society – the rejects, the outsiders, those who have given up trying to be accepted into mainstream society and look back at it with a wry, bitter humour. Like jesters, they make fun of society, its institutions and its supposed ‘morality’ by revealing its contradictions and hypocrisy. They also make fun of each other and of the futility of human life – we all die in the end.
Grotesque bouffon particularly draws on its wider background in Mediaeval carnival, the idea that we are are both ‘gods’ (in our remarkable intellectual and creative capabilities) and also we are still animals (in our bodily functions and crude competitiveness). This double-sidedness can be used by flipping between the high and low, ‘inverting’ what is normally looked up to with what is normally despised. So, for example, ugliness is praised and beauty is disparaged.
WHAT DO BOUFFONS LOOK LIKE?
By acting as bouffons we can partially identify with the people who have been, or are now, far from the cosy, comfortable world that is the experience of most of us who live in the ‘developed’ world. One way to help us feel ‘other’ is to distort our bodies using padding to enlarge or extend certain features, another way is to use make-up and ‘rubbish’ clothing for an appearance dirt and ugliness. This is the standard approach to a bouffon costume but there are other ways using fantastical, deviance or cross-dressing which open up a more imaginative realm of being. You will be encouraged to follow your own form of craziness.
|
TOOLS:
WHO'S THIS FOR?
This course suitable for clowns, actors, circus & physical performers or anyone interested in broadening their repertoire or political edges to their work. The work is extremely useful to develop brave performance in stand-up comedy, street performance, protest and theatre but also for any kind of public presentation or social interaction. If you’re not sure if your level of experience would support you to join this workshop, please email [email protected] and we will be happy to help identify if the workshop would be right for you. WHAT PREVIOUS PARTICIPANTS SAID:
★ "If you want to push your darkness and boundaries in a safe environment then this is the course for you." ★ "A challenging and engaging week. A great addition to my performance toolkit." ★ "A fantastic journey that stretched and inspired me." ★ "For me it was an amazing experience" |
How it worksDates & times:
19 - 21 April 2024 10am - 5pm Venue: We'll be working in the bright and beautiful Desperate Studio, now run by Tit4Tat Cato Street, Easton, Bristol BS5 6JL Application & investment: To apply please fill in this form by 5 April 2024: https://forms.gle/TeCVhjTMLZ4LEejaA Once invited; the course investment is: £200 - Supporter/ High earner £180 - Full Price £160 - Concession (low/no income, student) EARLYBIRD DEAL - get £20 off if you apply and pay before 29 March |
