Upcoming workshops

Small Circus Acts of Resistance
Byline Festival
24 - 27 August
Experiments in Resistance
Bristol
30 & 31 August
EXPERIMENTS IN RESISTANCE BRISTOL
I believe playing is a powerful act. And playing in public is a political one. Can you join me in to test out this theory? I am looking for clowns, street performers, improvisers and activists to take part in experiments in mischief and resistance on the streets of Bristol.

Using clowning and improvisation, I would like to interrogate the implicit unspoken rules that exist, control and define the world around us. Through games, play and interventions can we expose these rules and begin to change the way we see public space or how we interact with others? And through these mischievous acts are we able to be political and make difference in the world?

There are two opportunities to experiment:
Thursday 30 August - 10am - 12noon
Friday 31 August - 2pm - 4pm
This is a continuation of my research, “Small Circus Acts of Resistance”.

SMALL CIRCUS ACTS OF RESISTANCE BRISTOL
Calling all circus and physical performers, clowns, dancers, musicians, visual artists, street performers and political activists! Do you want to change the world? Would you like to explore the potential of your artistic and performance practice to be political and tackle serious issues?
 
Join Robyn Hambrook for a FREE one-day workshop exploring the meeting point of circus, street theatre and political protest. Working with the skills and concerns of the participants in the room, we will take inspiration from circus and street theatre to creatively explore ideas of resistance and protest. As a group we will use this inspiration to create our own “small circus acts of resistance” and perform them in the streets of Bristol.
 
Both circus and street theatre have long political history through their popular appeal and ability to reach large audiences. In our current climate the world is more politicised than ever but beyond social media we may not have an outlet to express ourselves. The street and public spaces are central to political protest, a democratic space of the people, a place you can to say something to your community.
 
Open to all levels aged 16+, this workshop will equip participants with performance skills suited to working outdoors and in public spaces. It offers a toolbox to help artists explore political themes in their work and creative ways to generate work.
 
Robyn is a director, teacher, producer, performance artist and clown. She has over fifteen years’ experience creating street arts, physical theatre and circus around the world. She is currently undertaking a Masters in Circus Directing at Circomedia and this workshop forms part of her Masters research. Through this workshop she aims to explore a methodology to work with different groups, community or professional, combining elements of circus and street theatre, in their broadest forms, as a medium to explore current issues and develop creative protest and acts of resistance. www.robynhambrook.com
 
The session will be photographed and filmed and participants will be asked to feedback at the end of the day. Information gathered will only be used for research purposes.
 
To participate please contact robynhambrook@gmail.com with a brief introduction to yourself and why you would like to take part
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.