How does the use of clowning reinforce or disrupt character types or classical Shakespearean themes?
SF: Well, when we go full on clown in a production there is a lot of disruption. Clowns don’t always want to perform Shakespeare. What we do a lot of times is use clown energy and bring that to the characters, which I think really enhances the pleasure and play – the joie de vivre of the characters. It really allows you to play the characters to their fullest. It also gives huge energy to scenes, like the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet, which I usually find stiflingly dull when played on the stage or in movies. I mean it’s just like, “Hello. Please. Hello, lighten up people. This is a bit funny. This is a bit ridiculous.” So it [clowning] allows you to keep the same kind of intense passion between the characters, but also allows the ridiculous aspects to be present. Clown allows their passion to be ridiculous, rather than trying to get ridiculous to make it romantic or passionate. You really can just enhance play elements and let them come to life. When you are doing full-on red-nos
