The here and clown
| dc.contributor.author | van Wyk, Klara | en |
| dc.contributor.funder | National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences | en |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-11-07T15:18:05Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-11-07T15:18:05Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024 | en |
| dc.description.abstract | his practise-as-research paper applies Cormac Power’s three categories of presence (2006) to contemporary clown training and performance in the theatre with specific reference to a recently devised performance that used clown principles to open up challenging discussions around shame, race and Afrikaner Identity. Through my perspective as a South African educator, clown practitioner and postdoctoral fellow, I propose that the contemporary clown’s failed efforts to sustain the audience's belief in their persona is what paradoxically leads to the clown’s success by drawing attention to presence as a multibodied phenomenon. Failure, a key principle of clowning, is an effective performance strategy that relies on the performer's awareness of their presence as a dynamic exchange to establish and maintain connection with an audience through listening and reacting to audience appreciation (laughter) or lack thereof (silence). Through critical reflection of the clown as both a state of presence and a performative strategy, this paper highlights the valuable role that the clown’s insider-outsider position plays in bringing about awareness and learning in both theatrical and pedagogic contexts. | en |
| dc.description.status | Peer reviewed | en |
| dc.description.version | Published Version | en |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | en |
| dc.identifier.citation | van Wyk, K. (2024) 'The here and clown: Exploring clowning in relation to presence in theatre', Scenario: A Journal for Performative Teaching, Learning, Research, 18(1), pp. 85-100. https://doi.org/10.33178/scenario.18.1.6 | en |
| dc.identifier.doi | https://doi.org/10.33178/scenario.18.1.6 | en |
| dc.identifier.endpage | 100 | en |
| dc.identifier.issn | 1649-8526 | en |
| dc.identifier.issued | 1 | en |
| dc.identifier.journaltitle | Scenario: A Journal for Performative Teaching, Learning, Research | en |
| dc.identifier.startpage | 85 | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10468/16630 | |
| dc.identifier.volume | 18 | en |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.publisher | Department of German, University College Cork | en |
| dc.rights | © 2024, the Author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. | en |
| dc.rights.uri | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ | en |
| dc.subject | Clown | en |
| dc.subject | Theatre | en |
| dc.subject | Presence | en |
| dc.subject | Cormac Power | en |
| dc.subject | Pedagogy | en |
| dc.subject | Laughter | en |
| dc.title | The here and clown | en |
| dc.type | Article (peer-reviewed) | en |
