Last week, motley crews of clowns from five Indian cities, replete with red noses and joie de vivre to spare, besieged an alternative venue with five shows under the aegis of what was dubbed the first ever Mumbai Clown Festival. The fiesta took place at Harkat Studios, an eclectic centre for the offbeat and the bizarre, and was part of the inaugural Laughter Per Kilometre (LPK) initiative, a month-long celebration of clowning currently underway in the city. Included in the line-up was Camilla Persson’s The Chaotic Adventure of a Violin , a musical show by Delhi-based practitioners. From Pune, came Rupesh Tillu’s Shakuntalam (Agar Pura Kar Paye Toh…) in which Kalidasa time-travels to a contemporary time to stage a hip-hop clown version of his eponymous opus. And, with a Mumbai team, Susie Wimmer showcased Bus Stop , in which the arduousness of waiting for a bus provides the turf for unlimited mayhem for three uncommon characters. Persson and Wimmer are directors from Sweden and Germany respectively, and along with Tillu, French Doriane Moretus and Swiss Katarina Rodopoulos, they are this edition’s international clown masters. LPK is organised by Clowns without Borders Sweden (CWBS) and Rednose Entertainment, Tillu’s outfit.
These shows marked the culmination of a 20-day theatre residency called The Fool’s School, which recruited participants from Kolkata and Chennai, apart from the aforementioned teams, for a contingent of 15 clowns in total. The residency occurred, from November 20, in the salubrious climes of Matheran, an Internet-free and vehicle-free idyll where the performers flourished under the care of their masters. “It was surprising how we were able to tap into their potential, once their fundamental requirements were taken care of,” says Tillu. Natural settings, clean air, and the sheer luxury of time, contributed to their zeal.
Empowering the disenfranchised
In 2012, Tillu and his cohorts began what was a pilot project at Kamathipura, Mumbai’s notorious red-light district. Their mandate was to reach children of sex-workers, street-children or those who otherwise lived under the most stressful circumstances. They wanted to generate interest for clowning as a form and develop a pool of actors certainly, but empowering those who were disenfranchised was an important goal from the outset, with laughter being the means. “It is a universal language, and our shows can be performed anywhere,” explains Tillu, stressing that the performances are not tailored to a specific demographic.
Each show is performed by a trio, and once they head back to their respective cities, each team starts a week-long tour of their own. In Mumbai, Persson’s trio will perform at several hand-picked NGOs, from December 14. These include the Apne Aap Women’s Collective, the Rescue Foundation, the Navjeevan Centres in Murbad and Khetwadi, and Dadar’s Kutumba Education and Knowledge Foundation. Similarly, Tillu moves to Pune to locations like Mohammad Wadi, Wagholi and Pashan. His team includes Shreeram Chaudhari and Sagar Bhoir, talented actors who were part of the Goshtarang initiative by QUEST, under which they travelled extensively across interior Maharashtra spiritedly performing children’s plays like Do Kutrayanchi Goshta and Itku Pitku Akashwani. They were dubbed balmitras, and Tillu plans a similar extended tour with their Shakuntalam . “Although these events entail taking theatre to those who cannot come to it, they are open to all,” says Tillu.
Comic fervour
The final leg of Laughter per Kilometre, will involve Tillu and Vijay Sharma travelling to the five participating cities to organise evaluation workshops and seminars featuring not just the pool of freshly minted clown actors the festival has unleashed on an unsuspecting populace, but also other practitioners and those who work with children. Even though the festival is still underway, feelers from the cultural and socially engaged communities speak of a burgeoning network of clown-enthusiasts with a social consciousness to match their comic fervour. Tillu has already decided that they will follow through with a second edition next year.
