January 27^th → 31^st , 2025
MELBOURNE, Australia

THE GREENHOUSE OF FOOLS

A Devising Intensive
for Clowns, Bouffons and other STage Creatures

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A unique combination of devising and training
specifically devised to support performers to work on their own material.

What comic dynamic am I working with in my performance?
Why the audience laughs? And why it doesn’t?
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 is my comic persona based in?
What is REALLY funny for me?
What do I want to say to the audience and to the community?

These are some of the questions addressed by this workshop.
In order to create and write for one’s own comic characters, one 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 comic dynamics, the actor-player needs 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 means to be able to create with them.

THE PROGRAM

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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 actor/creator needs to wear and their areas of competence, responsibility and choice making.

THE PLAYER /PERFORMER



• The state of play
• The comic persona and the comic core
• Who is on stage?
• What mask (or masks) are playing?
• The Player’s technique: le jeu, amplification and articulation of movement, levels of playing.
• The contact with the audience
• Emotional awareness and presence

THE DIRECTOR

/STAGER

• Playing with space
• Rhythm: pace and variations
• The structure of an act: entrance, presentation, development and variations, crescendo, climax, finale, exit.
• Set and props
• Directing the Player

THE WRITER
/AUTHOR

• The poetic field
• The choice of themes and their development
• The author as the storyteller
• Understanding a character’s potential and weakness
• The mask and the counter-mask
• The “politics” of the act
• 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 training 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 workshop 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

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PRACTICALITIES

Two modes of participation are possible:

PERFORMERS
Minimum 5 – 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 or TRIO. 


A Project can also involve
 a director/author, who can participate as assistant.

DEVISING ASSISTANTS

It is 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 FOR THE PERFORMERS
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 a live audience.

APPLICATIONS FOR THE DEVISING ASSISTANTS
Please write a letter of intent describing what leads you to this training.
The application must include
– a brief artistic CV
– your experience in theater devising as a performer, director, author, producer, teacher…
– some questions that you would like to be explored during this training.

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TUITION

PERFORMERS:
Tuition for individual projects: AUD 950
Tuition for projects involving more than one person: AUD 1.300

Tuition for Devising Assistants: AUD 400

To confirm the enrollment, a deposit is due.
Please note that the deposit is non-refundable.

DEPOSIT for Performers: AUD 400
DEPOSIT for Devising Assistants: AUD 200

Please note that the tuition does not include accommodation and that participants will be responsible for organizing their staying in Melbourne.

LANGUAGE: The workshop will be taught in ENGLISH and a basic understanding of ENGLISH  is required

LOCATION: to be announced

SCHEDULE: 9:30 to 18:00, each day
We will be working on the 27th, a public holiday.

INFORMATION AND APPLICATIONS

For further information about the content of the workshop and for APPLICATIONS, please contact

For enrollment and practical enquiries please contact

PHOTO CREDITS
(1) We Too Us Too Me Too Too Too, LAMAMA Theatre, Melbourne, 2022
(2) CLOWN’S LIFE training, Melbourne, 2024
3) Helikos, Florence, 2014, by Stefano Borghi
(4) Bouffons Workshop, Melbourne, 2017
(5) THE RED NOSE training, Melbourne, 2018