Clown Workshop Series with John Beale

8 Tuesdays
March 14-May 2, 2023
7pm-9pm

Sweet Action Theatre 180 Shaw Street, Artscape Youngplace, Toronto, ON
$400 plus hst
20% discount for students, returning participants, union members.
Pre-registration and payment is required as space will be limited to 14 people.

This work encourages us to show up- to explore an open channel between ourselves and others. Clown teaches us to play, not to push too much or shy away but to bring our full selves to the moment - to find our open, sensitive, vulnerable, human and ridiculous quality.

“How do you find your clown? By following this saying to the letter: ‘When laughter breaks out, the clown isn’t far away. When laughter dies down, the clown goes away. Where is my clown? Your clown is born in laughter, lives near laughter and dies beside laughter”- Philippe Gaulier.

For the clown, unlike the comic, laughter is seemingly unexpected or it comes at the wrong time. There is a miscommunication or misunderstanding or flop. We are mostly engaged by seeing the clown deal with their situation. We fall in love with their energy; something we recognize; something truly, deeply and ridiculously human. As artists, clowns are committed to showing off their virtuosity and attempting to be professional. They bring such pleasure, openness, vulnerability and presence to the stage that we burst out laughing. We laugh because their pleasure to play is great.

During the 8 sessions (16 hours of instruction) we will explore:

-Igniting our pleasure to play.
-Using costume as body mask to find greater freedom.
-Exploring the alchemy of failure and becoming friends with flop.
-Developing short solo or duet clown turns.

Open to actors, non-actors, clowns, artists and brave souls- all those craving to reconnect with the pleasure to play and to be free of their fear of failure.

John Beale is an actor and the master teacher of Clown and Bouffon for the Humber Theatre Arts Performance Program. He is a professor of acting, mask, clown and improv at Seneca College and Randolph College, Character Study at George Brown’s School of Media and Performing Arts and Acting and Scene Study at the Toronto Film School. He has been teaching publicly offered performance workshops in Presence and Clown for over 15 years. John is a graduate of the Philippe Gaulier International Theater School in Paris, France.
When:
Tuesdays 7pm-9pm
March 14-May 2, 2023

Where:
Sweet Action Theatre
Artscape Youngplace,
180 Shaw St, Toronto

Cost:
$400 plus hst
20% discount for students, returning participants, union members.
Pre-registration and payment is required as space will be limited to 14 people.

REGISTRATION AND INFORMATION
john@johnbeale.net
416-892-4322
Facebook event
"With this work people have to find a way of being beautiful and surprising...and by beautiful I mean being in the grip of pleasure or freedom.” -Philippe Gaulier

TESTIMONIALS

"Dear John, When you did study in my school in Paris I did recognize you as a great actor. When I saw your show I recognized a great writer, poet and actor. But I knew it already. Thanks for your show, your friend,

Philippe Gaulier”

Past Participants:
"Your workshop knocked a lot of stuff loose for me in a good way. Very grateful."

"John's workshop and his delivery were brilliant. Being able to play spontaneously allowed me to be at my best creatively. It gave me the opportunity to be "present", feel, let my ego go and unearth some amazing ideas."

"John Beale is a skilled and engaging facilitator. His workshop gave me new confidence in myself. I was brought back to life and discovered a more creative me. I laughed often and harder than I have in a long time. It was a very rewarding experience.”

“Seemed as if whatever plug had fallen out inside my soul was reconnected.”

“Thanks for guiding me through one of the most terrifying and exhilarating moments in my adult life. I very much appreciated your guidance during the last two days, and have certainly found some new perspectives that I would want to pursue further.”

“What a stupendous weekend! I thoroughly enjoyed the work, managing to stay pretty loose (vulnerable) as we leapt from one challenging task to another. I do feel I made some real headway in discovering "who I am" i.e. my essence. I surprised myself! Again, thank you for a most exhilarating experience.

Cancelation Policy

Full refunds for cancellations one week prior to workshop. For cancellations after that point the workshop fee will be put toward any future workshop.