SEPTEMBER 1 → 6, 2025
Padova, ITALY

THE GREENHOUSE OF FOOLS

A Devising Intensive
for Clowns, Bouffons and other STage Creatures

This unique training on the art of DEVISING is specifically designed to support participants to work on their own material.

Why a piece works and how can I fix it if it doesn’t?
How can I develop and act into a longer piece?
What comic dynamic am I working with in my performance?
Why the audience laughs? And why it doesn’t?
What is my comic persona based in?
What is REALLY funny for me?

These are some of the questions addressed by this residency. In order to create and write for one’s own comic characters, the creator needs to understand what is its comic core. Which are the “mechanisms” .
Is the comedy based on actions, or emotions? On accidents or jokes? Clowns or Bouffons? Gags or stories? Satire, stupidity, absurd, slapstick, mocking…?
Every comic character, or comic writing, works specifically. And in order to work with comic writings and dynamics, the actor-player needss a sharp understanding of their nature.
There are many ways of being funny: they can all make the audience laugh but they are not in the same comic world. They are rooted in a variety of writing and performing principles. To know them mean to be able to create and devise with them.

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THE PROGRAM

Participants will bring their clowns or comic stage creatures, and one existing act, routine or project, solo or not, finished or unfinished, funny or …not yet. They will present their work on their first day (max. 15 minutes), and this will be the basis for a series of coaching sessions that will focus on the three different hats that the creator needs to wear:

THE PLAYER – the Performer

The comic persona, the comic core, the contact with the audience, the acting technique, amplification and articulation of movement, mask awareness, emotional awareness and presence.

THE DIRECTOR – the Stager

Playing with space; Rhythm: pace and variations; the structure of an act: entrance, presentation, development and variations, crescendo, climax, finale, exit.

THE WRITER – the Author

What story do I want to tell? Understanding a character’s potential and weakness, the choice of themes and their development, the mask and counter-mask, the use of the actor’s skills (music, singing, acrobatics, juggling, dance and unusual or unique skills).

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THE DIFFERENT SESSIONS

The aim of this residency is to give participants professional theatre tools, in order to create within their own poetic world. It addresses theatre artists with experience in the world of physical comedy. Participants need to bring an existing project, something they have already worked with and that can be performed on the very first day.
The residency will unfold with different types of sessions:

– Individual coaching with Giovanni

– Autonomous rehearsal time

– Presentation of the work to the group and collective work on the feedback, to understand basic principles of playing, writing and directing.

– Collective exercises on core principles emerging from the work

– The week will culminate with a final presentation of the scenes, open to a small invited audience. (If the anti Covid regulations will allow it).

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PRACTICALITIES

Two modes of participation are possible:

PERFORMING PARTICIPANTS
Maximum 6 projects.
Their performing material will be presented in the coaching sessions.
It is possible to participate with a SOLO project or as a DUO.
A Project can also involve a director/author, who can participate as assistant.

ASSISTING PARTICIPANTS
Maximum 12 people
It is also possible to attend this week without any material to present, and assist at all the coaching sessions and presentations, as well as participating to the collective classes and observe the creative process. This role includes supporting the creative process through feedback and questions, as well as learning about the different kinds of posture involved in supporting a devising process: director, author, movement coach, pedagogue, “outside eye”… These roles have a different perspective and give different focus and feedback. They are often confused or entangled in ways that make the devising process less effective.

APPLICATIONS

Please write a letter of intent describing the project you want to work at.
The application must include
– some pictures from the project;
– a link to some video material;
– a vision for the development of the project.
Please note that the material you want to work on needs to have been already performed to an audience.

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TUITION

The tuition is following a sliding scale approach.
Please indicate in your application the amount that you choose to pay.

Tuition for individual projects: Euro 500-700

Tuition for duos: € 600-800

Tuition for assisting participants: € 200-300

To confirm the enrollment, a deposit is due. Please note that the deposit is non-refundable unless in case of cancellation due to force majeur.

Deposit for performing participants: € 200

Deposit for assisting participants : € 100

The remaining part of the tuition is due by August 1st

Please note that the tuition does not include accommodation and that participants will be responsible for organizing their staying in Padova. After the enrollment, we will provide a list of useful information and contacts on how to organize your staying in Padova.

Once the workshop will be confirmed, participants will receive a message containing further practical details about the workshop, as well as the details of the safety anti-covid regulations that the group will have to comply with.

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LANGUAGE: The workshop will be taught in English and a basic understanding of this language  is required.

LOCATION: HELIKOS STUDIO, Via Monte Solarolo 16, 35141 PADOVA, ITALY

SCHEDULE
From Monday October to Saturday
9:30 to 18:00, each day.
The Helikos studio will be available for individual rehearsal time also from 18:00 to 22:00.
The Studio will also be available, at no extra cost, for rehearsing on the day before the beginning of the workshop.

For further information about the content of the workshop and for application and practical enquiries please contact Giovanni Fusetti at

Tel: +39-349-7130121

PHOTO CREDITS
(1) Red Nose Intensive, Padova, 2022
(2) Helikos, Florence, 2014, Stefano Borghi
(3) Red Nose Intensive, Padova, 2022
(4) Bouffons Workshop, Melbourne, Australia, 2017
(5) Red Nose Intensive, Melbourne Australia, 2018
(6) Red Nose Intensive, Padova, 2022