'Great Actress: 
Pity   verb:  3rd person present:
to feel sorrow for the misfortunes of – for example: "I could see from their faces that they pitied me."
Putana (blinded):    
I can’t see, I can’t see!' 
- 'Tis Pity 'Tis A Pity 2021


'… nice Philosophy may tolerate unlikely arguments,
but Heaven admits no jest’
 - ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore Act 1 scene i
 

​


There was no showing - but the e-poster might have looked like this.



2021
In Summer 2021, travelling to work by tube where most people's best efforts to socially distance contrasted with free-ranging groups of football enthusiasts chanting unmasked and beating on the sides of the trains, I was again approaching John Ford’s play 'Tis Pity She’s A Whore as a Clown Drama.
 
Risk Assessment & Laughter
I achieved a First Aid certification prior to beginning the module, as we were to be working isolated in a special offsite location. The student cast were ‘bubbling’, keeping to their small community each day, so we were able to work unmasked. It was unnerving doing the risk assessment for devising a Clown production.

Hazard: covid aerosol inhalation via the normally joyful and health-giving phenomena of laughter.
Precaution: social distancing.

But Clowns are unpredictable, and in one exercise, one clown inadvertently stuck his hand right into another clown’s mouth (you had to be there). A kind of spontaneous Lateral Flow Test, but with fingers instead of a swab. Luckily no harm was done.

Ingredients
Inspired by the timbre of Phil Collins' Something In The Air Tonight, the clown adaptation was to open with a chorus of clowns tasting and testing the air - sensing, some with fingers raised, some with tongues out. 
 
For a chorus clown, this sliver of text from Oedipus was repurposed and re-phrased.  

Oh Oh Oh Oh 
My soul is racked and shivers with fear. 
I wish no harm but beg ye (to audience]
drive 
From our land the plague, 
please hear us now and defend us! 

Ah me, what countless, countless woes! 
Hope on hope down-striken goes.

Coughing is forbidden and so are sighs
while the powerful spread the contagion of their lies  !
 
Clown Council
My clown dramaturgy process of the Clown Council yielded, among other themes, a voice for sex-positivity, realised within the character of the lovable, flawed Putana.
 
One student had discovered a high status clown. She developed the character of Great Actress.
She wanted to read the Frontispiece on the play – here it is, adapted for clown delivery:
 
‘TIS
PityShe’sAWhore
Not quite ‘as acted by the Queen’s Majesty’s Servants
AT The Phoenix in Drury Lane, LONDON' (words in caps meaninglessly shouted)
(she weeps) 
Printed by one Nicholas Okes for one Richard Collins and to be sold at the latter’s shop In Paul’s Churchyard, 
inthenookonthelefthandside under the sign of the 
Three Kings, 1633 (gesture of 3 crowns)
(dramatic) Dramatis  Personae (theatrically humble):
Bonaventure, A Friar - but no one calls him by his name
A Cardinal - Nuncio to the Pope
Soranzo - who’s a Nobleman
Florio - a mere citizen
Ditto Donado
Grimaldi - described as a Gentleman but quite frankly a thug
Giovanni, son to Florio
Bergetto nephew to Donado - are you keeping up?
Richardetto, Vasques, Poggio, Banditti, Annabella, Hippolita, Philotis and 
Putana

'The writing of this potent tome
Was done with safety from the author’s home
It tells of love in unlikely times
And portrays incest and other crimes.'
 
Empty cities
The drone shots of empty cities that sprouted up on YouTube inspired a section on the architecture of Parma, which one clown narrated as the clown chorus embodied:

The Strada Repubblica, once a Roman road built in 187 BC.
The Ponte di Mezzo (Middle Bridge), the Ponte Romano.
The Battistero di Parma (the city’s Baptistery), in the Gothic style. Oct-ag-onal. 
Pink Verona marble exterior 
And within: a highly frescoed cupola.  
Porticos, cupolas, churches  …. Cathedrals.
 
Losing our religion
We had a Godfather-style Pope.

Pope:
Kiss my ring.
Friar: 
Of course.
Pope:
Take The Gun, Leave The Cannoli.
Friar: What? What gun?
Pope:
I Don’t Like Violence, Tom. I’m A Businessman. Blood Is A Big Expense.
Friar: 
(confused) My name’s not Tom.

The powerful men of town
In the real world, Dominic Cummings was driving long distances to test his eyesight and spread the virus, and there were regular briefings from our PM - Text here filched and re-fashioned from Moliere.
 
The powerful men of town place rubber-gloved hands on Hippolita and Annabella while Putana assists. 
Soranzo:
There’s no shame in hypocrisy, nowadays; it’s
so fashionable, people think it’s a virtue.
So prevalent – it’s invisible! Like an air-bourne plague.
Hypocrisy has friends in the highest places;
with special privileges …
 
Something is rotten in the state
Putana (in a  costume made entirely of blue surgical masks) speaks:
 
Putana:
Hello everybody, Ciao bello! My name is Putana.
As I am a very woman, I am here to orally (tongue through slitted mask)
express my own truth.
Something is rotten in the state of Italy!
Can you taste it in the air?
(Chorus of clowns very briefly reprise tasting air)
This place is filled up with some rich and handsome fellas: Giovanni, Soranzo, Berghetto, Poggio, Florio, Vasquez and Donado …
 
The problem is that they are all so Pious!
I try my best, I offered ‘orizontal refreshment to them, jelly rolls, comfort, slap & tickle.
Even threesies. Nada. Niente.
The church has everyone in a tight grip
The town of Parma is afraid.
The people of Parma are paralysed,
Petrified. Afraid of their own bodies. Their own desires.
 
Pride
A little later, she announces:

Putana:
Happy Pride month everybody! It Is so lovely to see you all together.
Let the whole city of Parma hear us: LOVE IS LOVE! (get audience to say it)
I can’t hear you …. LOVE IS LOVE!  One more time LOVE IS LOVE!
Yes!!!
And this year, I am honoured to open the first ever INCEST PRIDE MARCH!
(Pairs of clowns parade: each wears a cardboard sign on blue rope.)
Dad / Nephew
Sister / Sister
Brother / Step-brother
Mum / Grandpa
Sib   /  Lings
 
Clown chorus sing:
We are family
Brother sister mother and me
We are family
Get up everybody and sing!
 
The problem with Parties
There was a frission around the gathering of the play’s wedding party. A clown appointed to count and recount, ineptly. 
Hippolita crashes the wedding party, reciting text from Pity Party. (Melanie Martinez's video shows a party where no one has shown up - a 2015 pre-figuring of covid isolation!).

Knee-jerk reactions
The knee-jerk reactions on social media each day made a mark:
 
Vasques: Tricking my master to buy a calzone pizza for a bride!
This calls for more random, knee-jerk and self-righteous vengeance –
Bandits: (they move quickly to appear at his side in in their huddle) At your service, sir!
Vasques points at Giovanni. Bandits surround him saying stab stabstab stab stabstab)
Bandits: stab stabstab stab stabstab
Giovanni: Whose hand gave me this wound?
(Bandits raise hands 1234 in staccato rhythm.)
Giovanni: Oh, I bleed fast.
Death, I …
… Annabella's face. (G says this as if seeing her in heaven, but the dead Annabella shows her face, eyes crossed and tongue out)
(Giovanni dies.)
Vasques: Let me use my random agency to compel you all to spit on the memory of Annabella. (the powerful characters make a raspy sound of preparing to spit – Vasques says, swiftly) Metaphorically!  They don’t call me Vasques the Socially Responsible for nothing.
(The Friar is appalled at the exhortation to spit, then nods at the social responsibility.)
 
(The Bandits - whose day job does not interfere with them being proudly ’woke’ and ethical - applaud ‘socially responsible’ and nod.)
 
Punishment
Unlike in the original play, in this ‘Tis Pity, Putana’s punishment takes centre stage;
 
Vasques: Grab the whore-mongering whore.
(Bandits appear quickly in their huddle)
Bandit 2: Do you mean the sex-worker?
Bandit 1: We prefer the term sex-worker.
Bandit 3: Word.
Vasques: Grab Annabella’s nurse, Putana!
 
Tis Pity There's No Pity
You could argue how well the pandemic was dealt with by the government – you could be forgiven for saying that there seemed to be a failure of compassion* among many of those in power.
 
The ‘Great Actress’ Clown) delivers a dictionary definition of Pity while poor Putana is tortured.
Great Actress: Pity  … pronunciation: /ˈpɪti/    noun.
The feeling of sorrow and compassion caused by the suffering and misfortunes of others.
Vasques: Take out her eyes!
Putana: What?! No No
(One arm, two arms to place hands on Putana’s eyes. If possible, the front 2 bandits have red makeup on their fingers [warmed in hands] to smear on Putana’s eyelids.)
Clown Chorus: Ooooh! (flinching)
Great Actress: For example:  "the sight of the maiming filled the onlookers with pity"
(Putana cries out.   Clown chorus look appalled / distraught.)
Great Actress: Synonyms:
compassion    ,    commiseration    ,     condolence
sorrow         ,       sympathy
distress    ,    regret
Antonyms:     Indifference, …
(Clown Chorus turn away with shame, not indifference while
The Powerful - Soranzo etc - check their fingernails, phones, or use antibacterial wipes.)

Great Actress:  … Cruelty.      (sobs from Putana)
Pity   verb:  3rd person present:
to feel sorrow for the misfortunes of – for example:
"I could see from their faces that they pitied me"
Putana:    I can’t see, I can’t see
(Vasques stabs her – Putana dies, but remains standing in crucifix position, but drooped.)
 
Great Actress: Pity, alternate meaning: a cause for regret or disappointment.
For example:
"it's a pity she got pregnant”
“it’s a pity a sweet idiot like Bergetto was killed. By ‘accident’”
“It’s a pity a brother and sister fell for one another”
“It’s a pity about the plight of the hard-working, disenfranchised bandits dehumanised by the capitalist structure”
Bandits: hear hear, right on, word. (and solidarity fists)

Ex-machina
The character known as ‘Pope/God thing’ arrives. In an ideal world, they would be suspended from on high, but in this student clown production, piggy-backed in by someone.
 
All: (inhale) it’s the pope / god / supreme being thing!!
 
God Pope Thing: Take up these slaughter'd bodies,
Clown chorus intone: shame
God Pope Thing: see them buried;
Clown chorus: crying shame
God Pope Thing: And all the gold and jewels,
Wallets, spare-change whatsoever,
Clown chorus: misfortune
God Pope Thing: Confiscate by the canons of the Church,
Clown chorus: crime (then feel a bit worried they said that)
God Pope Thing: We seize upon these goods - and divert them to the Pope's proper use.
All, including Friar, but not Putana: Of course.
(All leave the stage – some flouncing, some ashamed and compromised.)
 
Interruption
Along with contrast, clarity, pace, stupidity, alternate logic, micro-pauses, clocks, drops, rhythm, timing, representation of minor characters,
interruption
is a useful comic device.
 
Putana: The Parmesan people …
(Quick appearance by Poggio with a wedge of parmesan cheese.)
Daniel/Poggio: ‘My Master said that he loved her almost as well as he loved Parmesan.’

Interruption is Interruption
But IRL, interruption is interruption. Abruptly (as in 2020), our 2021 covid-themed ‘Tis Pity rehearsals stopped because an-extra mural workshop brought Covid into the group, so, as in 2020, this new iteration of Clownacy never had a sharing, not even to a small, covid-safely-distanced group of viewers.




* lack of compassion towards nurses, the disabled, the elderly ... and others

If you have done one of my Clown or Comedy Toolbox courses, you will probably have seen me hold my hand over my head in a cupped 'C' shape as I refer to certain helpful principles. It's a bit of silliness - but serves to make concepts more Concrete in support of my mission to share the craft of comedy). There's a satisfying Cluster of useful principles that begin with 'C'.

This lighthearted list is a work in progress. These principles are in no way intended as a complete approach. A number of them will make more sense for people who have taken part in a workshop already and know my thoughts on the importance of rhythm in Clown and comedy work:


A key principle at the very start:
Create the Conditions for Comedy  – think about how circuses would always play music with the tempo of a happy heartbeat as the crowd entered the tent


Charm  – ‘Where does a laugh start? In the eyes.’ (Philippe Gaulier). Before they laugh, you need to be watchable, and charm their both their attention and their breathing

 
Create Communion – Casting the net helps (this makes sense when you have done a workshop with me but you can also look at the post on 31 January) other teaching phrases I play with are 'sniff the beast' and  'sense the field'. A student recently said: 'Allow yourself to be received', which I love.



Clarity  –  was your gag / idea / execution / voice Clear enough? (If they didn't see/hear it, it didn't happen)


Clear the head– find a good teacher or book on Chi Gung (I recommend Master' Lam Kam Chuen: The Way of Energy') and learn how to get on your Hara! It creates more mental space and more opinionless-ness so you are ready to respond more Creatively (i.e. download something direct from the Imaginal realm which is all around us - take that for your own testing, but honestly, where else do spontaneous ideas come from?) 


Contrast – one of the most basic building bricks of Comedy - things were one way and now they are another way, surprise!

 
Contact – with audience, with Co-performers – light, flexible, agile, open-minded Contact keeps you Connected (see Complicité also - many articles have been written about or include reference to  Complicité like this one )


Commune – an aspect of Contact and Community. Remember that the Clown also likes to Commune with inanimate objects

 
Complicité – a useful Concept well known by Philippe Gaulier graduates

 
Cumulative – laughter is cumulative – I discovered that if I missed a laugh in a building gag in performance, the laughter at the final punch was not as high as it usually was (see my earlier post on Laughter)

 
Cap the gag - do you have a few actions you found in improvising? make sure the one with the biggest laugh is at the end or you risk to create a dying fall


Compassion for self – are you bracing with fear? Calm and Comfort yourself (Gaulier used to say 'sing yourself a lullaby')


Calm – using the Hara helps the aspiring Clown (or any performer) be more flexibly alert, agile and opinionless, more 'zen' 


Compassion for your audience – are they not laughing? Well, then, rather than bracing against them - think: 'how interesting, they aren't laughing yet'. It's the Clown's job to lift the heart of the 'sad normals'. Love them. Interest yourself in how to lift their hearts.


Choices – you’ve done it 3 times – do you do the 4thwith a variation? Do you expand, accelerate? Do you elaborate? If you a revisited by a successful reaction motif then do you alternate the original motif with the reaction motif, do you, alternate with a call back to a previous thing? Do you abandon hat game (with the option of revisiting it later?) 
 

Carry on – after a failure, do something else – a big soft burst of elastic energy can be helpful (even if you’ve no idea what you are going to do on the other side of it!)


synCopation – the bass line is the rhythm of a happy heartbeat – on top – think jazz, think tiCkle rhythm, think unprediCtable


Calibrate - ABC – Always Be Calibrating (in the play Glengarry Glennross the salesmen are taught to Always Be Closing. Ok you don't need to do it ALWAYS. But it does provide a useful way to stay present (and build awareness). Practice Calibration (measuring) – 'How were they before they laughed? how are they now? How much did they laugh? Did all of them laugh or only three? Was I expecting more or less reaction? How does that make me feel? What if I do it again – calibrate the response – is it satisfyingly the same or less? Or better? How do i feel about that? What is happening with the audience now?' (all this is done by the performer within the clown - or as Gaulier described...the scientist (see further below).

 
Check – check the audience's reaction, their breathing, the look into their eyes (see above) - Check in with yourself - the audience loves to watch the clown think and feel ... don't slide over your inner emotional beats 

When you hear a laugh, look - or even better to say 'deliver your face to the audience. Clocking is turning your (clock) face to the audience, in the direction of laughter. You are not looking for approval, simply aCknowledging the laugh - as Avner the Eccentric says: 'Laughter is an interruption that must be dealt with'


Count – dare for the rule of three – if something goes wrong you probably either lost Contact, lost your joy, ignored a reaction from the audience, ignored an impulse inside yourself etc. Embrace the opportunity to aCknowledge the failure (it's the Clown's job to show its Humanity) and move on

 
aCknowledge the laugh – if a tiny seedling appeared in your garden would it be wise to ignore it, let it die?
also
​notice and aCknowledge silences ... 'Failure' is, for the Clown, an opportunity to show humanity, and to Connect with the audience


Courage - hang in there and try to Care less - cultivate Curiousity


Curiousity - as Avner the Eccentric says: 'Don't try to be interesting, be interested.' Interested in everything - the environment, the objects in it, the audience, in what you are doing...

 
Charisma –  Casting the net and the Lighthouse exercise help with this. You can also practice imagining a little spark about seven centimetres above your crown


Comfort and Calm – if you make an abrasive noise you may need to Comfort and Calm your audience


inClude – things your partner is doing, responses from the audience (unless you have a troublesome audience member who needs to be Calmed and Controlled – advanced stuff but sometimes you need to take Charge).

 
Consistency - Gaulier said: 'If it made them laugh once, it should make them laugh again' - he described the Clown as working with interest, like a scientist...'hm, that's interesting, what if I repeat the experiment?'. Develop and finesse the skill of proprioception (body feeling) where were you, what position were you in , what vocal timbre and volume were you using, just before the laugh? Is it possible to deliver exactly that again? Think of Tommy Cooper: 'just like that'


inCorporate – bring back something successful from before (known in standup as a ‘Call back’)

 

Confusion – can be good

 
Concision – Writing a Comedy sCript? Hone it! – excess words (unless they are building rhythm or creating  suspense) can stop the yuks. In terms of comedic movement, make your laughter 'nudge'** clear and succinct  (**note to self: I need to write a post on nudges)


Circulation – ok this is a stretch but it's a C word way to introduce another key concept. It is useful to think of people's hearts and their heart rate! Carlo Boso once said: 'It's easy to make an audience laugh, all you need to do is to control their breathing and their heart rate.' People who have done my workshops will have experienced me guiding people to discover how that might be done (the importance of rhythm).
 

Curves – movement works better using curves, and secret curves (including eye muscles) - come to a workshop to learn more

 
musiCality – useful generally and especially necessary in Dark Clown work

 
no hypoCrisy  – another piece of Gaulier's wisdom, a funnier and crisper way of saying 'be authentic'. It also helps you stay in step (create Community) with your audience. It is important to notiCe and aCCept the audience’s reaction - do not assume it. 

 
Now of course, annoyingly, some other handy Concepts do not contain C words – for example:

 

fixed point, joy, élan…

 

sigh, it’s not a perfect world

 

which is exactly why we need

the

Clown