In Barnaul, Russia, January 2012, cuddly toys protested the re-election of Putin and electoral fraud, taking the place of protesters who were arrested at previous demonstrations. The toys carried slogans like ‘I am for clean elections’ and ‘A thief should sit in jail, not in the Kremlin’. Authorities reckoned that the toys represented an ‘unsanctioned public event’ and their protest was banned. Police recorded slogans in their notebooks. The organiser stated that ‘We wanted to show the absurdity and farce of officials’ struggles with their own people’.
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AuthorCreative research into the meeting point of clowning and activism Archives
April 2023
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ABOUT ROBYN
Robyn is a Bristol-based director, teacher and performer. With over 20 years experience she is a passionate practitioner of clowning, physical theatre, circus and street arts. She has a MA in Circus Directing, a Diploma of Physical Theatre Practice and trained with a long line of inspiring teachers including Holly Stoppit, Peta Lily, Giovanni Fusetti, Jon Davison, Zuma Puma and Deanna Fleysha. Robyn has collaborated with companies including Let’s Circus, The Sexual Health Circus and Whispering Wood Folk and performed with acclaimed physical theatre companies including, Derevo, Akhe, Oceanallover, and Gappad as well as her own award-winning company, Fun in the Oven Theatre. During the pandemic in 2020, Robyn set up The Online Clown Academy with Holly Stoppit and developed a series of Zoom Clown Courses. Robyn’s research, started during her Masters, has been exploring the meeting point of clowning and activism, online, in the real world and with international collaborators. With this drive to explore political edges of her work she has also dived back into the world of the Bouffon; training with Jaime Mears, Bim Mason, Nathaniel Justiniano, Eric Davis, Tim Licata, Al Seed and the grand master Bouffon-himself; Philippe Gaulier. She has also set up the Laboratory of the Un-beautiful; a collaboration with Deborah Antoinette Bard, exploring the bouffon & grotesque with womxn theatre makers. |