Walking into our first Clowning workshop with Richard, I had no idea what to expect. I could feel a nervous energy circulating the church square, as none of us really knew how to prepare ourselves for what we were about to learn. As soon as Richard entered the space, he brought an incredible energy with him and I could feel all of the apprentices, including myself, getting excited.
We did a range of exercises, but my favorite was when 4 apprentices entered the space as neutral people and the audience would tell them what they saw. This included observations such as wide eyes, shaky legs, upturned lips, etc. Once the performers noted these observations, they reentered the space as exaggerated versions of themselves.
I personally enjoyed this exercise because I got to embrace some things about myself that usually make me feel insecure. For example, I have scoliosis, so my body leans a little bit over to one side instead of being completely straight. During this exercise, I got to embrace that curve of my spine and add it as a quirk to my clown character. Everyone was so supportive and encouraging of one another and Richard inspired and guided us through the workshop so well. I loved being able to laugh with everyone and it was such a great release of energy at the end of a long day.
