Four practices meet

​​In The Activist Clown Toolkit I wanted to tell a story through the programming of my four guests.

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"Nathaniel is a bang up to date activist theatre maker offering enormous bouffant devising wisdom and experience. His exercises that encourage self empowerment within the body should be the basis for all activist’s." 
Participant feedback

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The series began with Theatre-maker, director, deviser movement designer, community advocate Nathaniel Justiniano He is the founding Artistic Director of Naked Empire Bouffon Company that uses outrageous satire to interrogate our social and political climate. He also co-curated the wonderful series of articles for HowlRound Theatre Commons – “When Clowns Fight the Power'' where I first came across his work. I was interested in how his work uses the Bouffon, a theatrical form developed by Jacques LeCoq, to subvert and overcome societal apathy. Described as the dark cousin of the clown, the bouffons are “unabashed truth-tellers with no time for fragility or inaction—know how to party, and before long the audience comes to realize it’s at their expense.” Nathaniel brought a Digital Acknowledgement, recognising the inequalities related to digital access as well as the legacy of colonisation embedded in these technologies. Nathaniel’s session went on to explore the embodied nature of the bouffon through guided improvisations. Starting with the body encouraged us to reclaim and empower the body as our activist tool. ​

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Hilary Ramsden, joined us in the second week. Hilary is a clown, researcher and lecturer in physical and visual theatre, street arts, rebel clown and a Dr. of Walking. She was a member of internationally acclaimed lesbian-feminist Siren Theatre Company and later co-artistic director of Walk & Squawk for 14 years in Michigan, USA. She was a co-founder of the Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army (C.I.R.C.A). Hilary shared the story of how an invitation to an art and activism retreat in 2003 led to the creation of the Clown Army. Hilary led participants through some Rebel Clown training exercises that built group trust and complicity and were designed to scramble the head of the activist. She also explained how the Rebel Clown included elements of bouffon. This created a hybrid form that combined the lightness and optimism of the clown with the malice and mockery of the bouffon, which appealed to activists more. 

"Hilary Ramsden had so much wisdom to share from her extraordinary practice. What has particularly stayed with me were the flocking exercises that helped us explore and reveal our own sensibilities around autonomous leadership and working together." Participant feedback

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"Sabine Choucair offered wonderful energy and  enthusiasm with really useful exercises, and a completely unique insight into activist performance in the Middle East." Participant Feedback

Sabine co-founded Clown Me In in Lebanon and Mexico, a group using the art of clowning to fight social injustice. She is a member of Clowns Without Borders USA and has spread joy and laughter among disadvantaged communities and in refugee camps. She is the Artistic director of the International Institute for Very Very Serious Studies a performance training program in Beirut focusing on social street theatre as well the The Caravan Project, a street theatre project that takes real life stories to more than 150 communities in Lebanon, Tunisia and Sweden. Sabine shared her incredible story of growing up in a country at war and her journey to clowning. Clowning offered catharsis and the power to deal with continued turmoil and daily crises in Lebanon. Her exercises explored Clown Me In’s fast devising process that allows the clowns to respond immediately to issues. 

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Labelled a 'Domestic Extremist' by the UK police, and 'a magician of rebellion' by the French press, Jay Jordan is the co-founder of the creative direct action movements the ‘Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army’ and ‘Reclaim the Streets’. His company, the Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination has 25 years experience of using creative forms of activism to address climate justice. I first heard about Jay through my research into the meeting point of circus, street arts and protest. And it was wild stories of digging up parts of motorways to plant trees, using ants to infiltrate banking computers as well as The Rebel Clown Army that caught my attention. I was inspired by his daring to use of disobedience in beautiful and creative ways. In a 30 minute presentation Jay Jordan provided an extraordinary account of his career on the edge of art and activism and the events that led up to the creation of CIRCA. As a form of nonviolent direct action the ideas behind the Clown Army were both tactical and therapeutic. Jay created an exercise that explored the concept of meeting authority with confusion instead of confrontation. 

"Jay Jordan is the Godparent of contemporary activist performance and artivism. I feel extremely honoured to have had the opportunity to listen to his wisdom and the story of his practice, but especially to experience with him an extraordinary paradigm shifting exercise regarding resilience in attitude towards authority." Participant Feedback