MICK BARNFATHER
Play, Rhythm and the Ensemble
An energetic and playful workshop looking at the presence of the performer and exploring when and why a person is watch-able. We will examine how stage presence and the dynamics of play between actors contribute to a vibrant ensemble, and how rhythm can be used to surprise and to create comic and dramatic moments.
Character and Comedic play
In this workshop we will look at ways of finding larger than life comic characters and exaggerated levels of play. We will use a number of different improvisations and methods including use of the half mask. The four days are very much about the fun to play another person, looking at their physicality, voice and above all the imagination that defines the characterisations. In these classes there will also be time to try out characters you have been working on or thinking about.
5 day Clown and Comedy
in London 20/05, 21/05, 23/05, 24/05 and 26/05. (SOLD OUT)
In this workshop we will be looking at what it is that makes us laugh and how we can be funny. It is not about big shoes, make up and squirty flowers. We will concentrate mainly on the clown and the pleasure to be ridiculous in the space. The clown moves from one flop to the next always happy and optimistic to be playing before an audience. There are many confusions and disasters in a clown show but there are never any doubts. The clown is joyful, playful, mischievous and full of fantasy. Nothing in this workshop is related to a style but very much looking to find what is uniquely funny about each person and how they can make that accessible to an audience.
Bouffon
This workshop explores the world of the Bouffon and the community they lived within. In all eras there have been outsiders and in a bygone era the Bouffons were excluded from society and sent to live in the swamps . These communities of dwarfs, hunchbacks, heretic priests and others were deemed the children of the devil because of the way they looked. Their revenge was grotesque parody, blasphemy and acid wit as they mocked and exposed the hypocrisy of those that cast them out.
Workshops will aim to be energetic and very playful. Participants will be encouraged to have fun and pleasure and use this as a starting point. In my opinion when people have fun and play instinctively it is then that they start to play the fool, tell stories, joke and discover their creativity.