Ed Rapley's blog

You should do a clowning course.

Why?

Because it will make you a better performer. You will be able to stand on stage without the blessed cover of a script or character. Standing as your own stupid self is really difficult. Once you can be with an audience in the way clown allows you to then it is easier to work with script and improvisation.

Your homework is to go to Holly Stoppit's clown course at the folk house:

CLOWNING!

We are being robbed, impoverished, and subjugated in a way that will have destructive consequences for generations.

Public wealth is being sold off and public services are being destroyed to finance repayment of a deficit in the public accounts that was created by lending vast sums of money to privately owned companies which had been mismanaged to the point of collapse.

A world surrounded by art and artists, beauty and work towards beauty, hope and meaning strived for and given.

Perhaps Greek Tragedy has not so much to do with Greek Tragedy. Perhaps it has more to do with being beautiful. It is a reason to be better than you are. To play for the gods. To be better than you thought was possible.

How can a human being be beautiful? You can start by enjoying yourself, standing tall, being still, having an open body, speaking with a good voice, wearing a good costume.

Le Jeu finished today, the first module has given me a more concrete understanding of why a performer works or flops on stage.

A while back James from actionhero was talking about the role of charisma in performance: some people have good ideas, but they lack the charisma to make them work, while others can get away with lesser material because they are charming. His question, as i remember it, was: is it just about charisma on stage?

Ouch. This was the week of learning by failing; of getting on stage and being boring; of frustration with myself; and of finally getting a better idea of what I should have know from the start.

Namely that before I get on stage I must want to be there, must have inspiration, a desire to share something, because it is these things which give me pleasure on stage. Then the stage is my kingdom and I am a fish in water, just as I should be. With that pleasure I exist more fully on stage. Existing more fully on stage I become infinitely more watch-able.