2026
Bouffon Workshop. see below
Two-Day Workshop: Bouffons & Grotesque Theater
Led by Martin Gill & Robyn Hambrook
Inspired by Jacques Lecoq and further developed by Francis Batten and Eric Davis
🎭 Overview
This two-day emersive workshop invites participants into the wild, provocative world of Bouffons and Grotesque Theater. Rooted in ancient Greek traditions and descended from the satyrs—minor gods of ecstasy and fertility—the Bouffons embody an extreme state of play: a mime gone feral, a shapeshifting chorus of creatures who mirror, mock, and magnify the games of human society.
Although not a therapy group, this work is highly therapeutic, providing permission to find boldness and creativity in a group context.
Through movement technique theatre games and improvisation, participants will explore how Bouffons amplify reality until it becomes grotesque, provoking laughter, outrage, and reflection. The band of Bouffons is not simply comic—it is a mirror held up to the community, exposing ethical dilemmas and inviting collective reimagining.
Day One: Entering the Bouffon State
- Discover the Bouffon “state”: mocking eyes, altered play, and ecstatic transformation
- Explore flocking and collective movement: the shapeshifting chorus as a living organism
- Work with the grotesque body: amplification, deformation, swelling, puffing
- Experiment with white bodies and ritualized play
- Develop rhythm, ritual, and mocking dynamics in bands of Bouffons
Day Two: Improvisation & Social Reflection
- Deepen into the shapeshifting body and its poetic potential
- Practice Bouffon improvisation: non-linear, non-local writing and collective invention
- Explore how Bouffons see the world: themes of play, parody, and provocation
- Mock the great themes of humanity: politics, power, love, death, and community ethics
- Create ensemble pieces that provoke laughter, outrage, and shared reflection
✨ Why Bouffons?
Bouffon play is not mysterious—it is a precise, embodied technique that opens a unique theatrical territory. By amplifying society’s games to grotesque proportions, Bouffons invite audiences to confront contradictions, hypocrisies, and ethical dilemmas. The result is a theater that is both hilarious and unsettling, playful and politically charged.
This workshop is for everyone, beginners and performers, directors, and facilitators who want to expand their physical vocabulary, explore collective improvisation, and engage with theater as a tool for social reflection.
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Changetree 