Red Nose Diaries

On Violence

Today read our clown plays that we based on Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty. Reflections that came up in discussions:

Clown is a passage to mystery, a doorway to the unknown.

The violence of our proposals-- like what Lecoq says about the violence of a falling leaf: The leaf loses nourishment, starves, and is cut off from the tree--torn away by the wind. The tree abandons it, and each year leaves come, only to be abandoned.

Clown Guru: "There is an advocacy for the vehemence of the work, no matter how gentle, how silent."

He likens this to maintaining "soft" on a flute or a violin. You can not do this by being tentative. For the flute--the support must be greater, for the violin, you must maintain a constant pressure.

And this is how we play dynamically.

And this is in all theatre.

They want to change the name of the school back to Dell'arte School of Theatre--take the "Physical" out. Carlo (our founder) hated that they added the "Physical" in the first place, because it denied the inclusion of the metaphysical.

But, for me, it is to never forget...

Fart jokes.

Posted by Srae at September 22, 2004 12:39 PM