Clown and Grief

Participant notes from Clown Congress 2025
Session proposed and documented by Clare Parry-Jones

I proposed a session on Clown and Grief following recent conversations I’d had with Robyn Hambrook, reflecting upon the future direction of my clown teaching, my performances and research over the years.

My own experiences of loss and grief were sometimes helped by my state of clown: being able to see the ridiculous amidst the trauma, laughing, crying, being able to momentarily step out of the depths and view the situation. This led to the creation of a non-verbal clown performance which I have toured internationally, always with a Q&A afterwards, which gives space for discussion, curiosity and cultural exchange.
I am interested in ancient rites and sacred sites of our ancestors, particularly the mesolithic and neolithic in the northern hemisphere. I have had the pleasure of making contemporary creative interventions at some of these sites, collaborating with nature, landscape and community, honouring our ancestors and reflecting upon our own state of (in)humanity.

I was curious to see what would emerge within this session, from individuals and the group as a whole and what their needs and desires would be. It was immediately clear that space was needed for quiet reflection, embodiment, talking, sharing, listening and witnessing, so we made space for these.

Key themes that arose:
Connecting with grief, through clown
What is grief?
Clowning as a framework for the stages of grief

Rituals, process, transformation
Being in a supportive community vs current isolation of our grief processes
Cultural lessons from around the world related to loss
Collaboration with, and support from nature

Accessing our own vulnerability through body and voice
Is it too much for the audience, or for ourselves?
How can you clown about …. ?

Support, laugh, release, strength

As a result of facilitating this session, I propose that I design and hold workshops on Clown and Grief, providing a safe space for exploration and transformation.

A few Grief Resources:
Good Grief Festival - Weston super Mare
https://www.goodgrieffest.com

Staging Loss: performance as Commemoration (Palgrave Macmillan)
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-97970-0

Llif - short film by Clare Parry-Jones
https://youtu.be/NlSwvxKM8as?si=flCD-FjbP23ovei7 (*themes of child loss )

Francis Weller - The Wild Edge of Sorrow
https://www.francisweller.net/books.html