Paolo Nani Clowning Workshop & La Carta (The Ladder) Performance: Bogota International Theatre F

Jonas and I have had the pleasure of attending a 4 day Clowning workshop whilst staying here in Bogota - With experienced theatre practitioner Paolo Nani from Denmark. We also had the opportunity to see his performance La Carta (The Ladder) which he has been performing for over 2o years all over the world.

The workshop was very insightful and Jonas and I both learnt a lot of new skills in improvisation, clowning and methods of physical actor training. It was interesting to explore the idea of comedy and improvisation from a dramatic perspective. Something that Paolo spoke about in the workshops was this idea that in order to understand comedy and humour, we must also understand serious drama as well. We cannot have the light without the dark - they are infinatley interconnected and correlated - and it's the integration of opposites (light and dark) I feel, that creates good performance. When used in the right way these shades of light and dark and the juxtaposition of both can create and reveal a whole spectrum of emotions, thoughts and reactions.

Firslty, we played alot of improviation games where we are developing the ability to think quickly on the spot and to analyse the games that other poeple play. For example one person begins by creating a scenario - then 2 or 3more people join into the exercise. The real challenge is to determine the specific games that the others have chosen to play - This is the hard part. Is it a game of comedy? A game of drama? A game of cards? A game of sudden death? Who knows what we can create with our imaginations, there are infinite posibilities - and this is why it is so hard to determine people's games. Once you think you have determined each others games, then you can either choose to play the same game, rolling along with or challengng the rules of thier game or create an entirely different game. It's an interesting exercise and one that sounds very simple, but is actually very difficult to practice and develop these skills of thinking and acting quickly, thinking about qualities of timing (rhythm), style (how the performance looks and feels) and composition (visual form). This skill is something that is integral for clowning and street theatre - the ability to improvise and act quickly with an engaging rhythm, specific chosen style and appealing composition and with spontaneity - is something that takes years of training and practice to develop and we are just at the beginning of our journey of discovery!

...How exciting!

Another interesting activity that we did as a group was to come up with 12 separate gestures and movements, then put it all together as one singular sequence of movements with rhythm and flow - like a dance. It was a really dynamic and engaging activity where we completed this sequence over and over again with our eyes closed to the sound of varous songs. As you progress further and deeper into this activity you begin to switch off your brain and stop thikning - You become the sequence itself. It's a state of meditation and nirvana -and each song inspires new feelings and rhythm. A fantastic exercise for finding the being within and grounding yourself for a performance or presentaion or even just to get the creative juices flowing!

I'd really like to discuss the concept of 'Play' in a little more detail, especially in regards to clowning - but I will leave this for another blog.

This workshop with Paulo Nani was a really rewarding experience for all of us - and to learn from someone with so much experience both practical and theoretical was incredibly insightful. It was fantasic to meet so many other young creative people from South America, who we will maintian contact with for future projects both here and in Australia. Jonas and I will definately take these new thoughts, ideas, inspiration and skills with us in our remaining adventures here in South America, as well as throughout our workshops and performances back in Australia upon our return.

I would like to break down and deconsrtuct in a little more detail my experience of La Carta performance in terms of it's impact on me, it's formal qualities as well as entertainment quality.

Paolo Nani has been performing his show 'La Carta' (The Ladder) for over 20 years all over the world -This in itself, is incredible! Imagine performing one show for over 20 years! (He does do other shows as well) But think of the depth of thought, insight and repetition of physical practice that this entails. The show was quite interesting and funny at various points, although I must admit - not as spectacular as I expected. Actually, I dont even really know what I was expecting.

Anyway, the show portrays a 'clown-like' character who proceeds to create the same scene over and over again - But within a different context each time. For example, the stage is set with a chair and one small desk. On top of it: A bottle of red wine, a glass, a bunch of pens, paper, envelopes and stamps. The major action and objective of each scene proceeds as follows: Paolo walks onto stage, sits down at the desk, he drinks some wine, spits it out as if it's horrible, he writes a letter to someone, puts it in the envelope with a stamp, trys to post it, but realises it's all wrong and cannot post it, he ends up tearing the letter into pieces and walks off stage. At the beginning of each new scene Paolo walks onto the stage with a sign not yet revealed to the audience. He sits down at the desk and gets up again and as he walks off stage he shows the sign to the audience. Walking back onto stage to act out the scene in whatever format the sign reveals. Every time he does the same scene and actions in this way, with a different sign to guide the action on stage.

In the horror scene, his wine becomes a toxic potion that turns him into a terrible 'Hulk-like' beast. He tries to write the letter and post it and ends up tearing it to peices in a rage and storms off stage. It's an interesting play because the majority of the imagery is created through physical movement and sounds. There are very few props and costumes except for the props I said before and a simple costume consiting of a plain white shirt with brown pants and suspenders. There are a number of really funny moments, for example in the horror scene, when he turns into a beast, he mimes his penis and testicles growing absurdly large and proceeds to create a number of hilarious and imaginative gestures and images with gigantic genitils. Some of the other scenes included: 'Western', 'No Hands', 'Circus', 'No Hearing', and ' Freudian', plus a few others that we missed due to not being let into the theatre on time!

I think for me, the play lacked a bit of charisma - it was enjoyable and thoughtful, but it wasn't the most memorable play or performance i've ever seen. But it definately had its own particular style - It's very slap-stick and physical in it's humour and comedy. At times it lacked substance, but overall it was really interesting, thought provoking, a great concept, enjoyable to watch and be part of!

Both the performance and the workshop by Paolo Nani has given me a lot of new ideas and things to think about and work on - I still have a lot of inhibitions when it comes to performing especially with improvisation which is something I will be working on over the next few months, years and rest of my life! haha. On the whole it was an insightful and really rewarding experience!

Pce Out

Lilly - The Gringo Clown

#bogota #colombia