This is a five-day bouffon devising intensive for those ready to take the next leap. Designed for folks who’ve trained with me before—or for experienced bouffon practitioners with prior training (pending approval)—this workshop is about going deeper and getting serious (while having a damn good time doing it). You’ll work in small “gangs” (ideally groups of 5), building a 10–15 minute piece to perform at a public showing on the final night.
Thursday June 26 to Monday June 30
10am-4pm each day
SLIDIING SCALE:
$550 regular price
$450 CODE: 1OFFPLZ
$350 CODE: 2OFFPLZ
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This is a five-day bouffon devising intensive for those ready to take the next leap. Designed for folks who’ve trained with me before—or for experienced bouffon practitioners with prior training (pending approval)—this workshop is about going deeper and getting serious (while having a damn good time doing it). You’ll work in small “gangs” (ideally groups of 5), building a 10–15 minute piece to perform at a public showing on the final night. The bigger hope? To spark an ongoing community of Toronto bouffon makers who can keep developing full ensemble shows—work that’s rich, sharp, and ready to hit the stage. If you’ve been hungry to move beyond short form or solo work and into the guts of ensemble-driven satire, this is for you.
We’ll hit the ground running: a fast and dirty review of core technique, then straight into physical devising. You’ll be on your feet, in your costume, playing the mask of your bouffon body to hone its appetite, its alliances, its targets. Some talk, but mostly discovering through the body. We’ll dig into the chemistry between your gang of freaks and build from there—crafting bold, embodied satire designed to disturb, delight, and move an audience.
Bouffon gives us a rare kind of freedom onstage—the license to mock power, unearth what society hides, and make the audience squirm, howl, and think all at once. But that kind of play demands rigor and risk. This intensive is a chance to sharpen your instincts, stretch your range, and build the ensemble chops it takes to land material that cuts. You and your gang should come in with a strong bouffon and either a clear idea, an urgent societal itch to scratch, or a target to explore. If you’re still cooking, we’ll need to meet on Zoom beforehand to help get you ready. This is about building the creative muscle to keep making work long after the week is over—and having a hell of a good time in the process.
DETAILS & TAKEAWAYS
Dates: June 26 - 30
Hours: Five 5-hour days + final evening showing
Group Size: Max 15 participants
Final Showing: Public performance on the evening of Day 5, Monday June 30th
Who It’s For: Folks who’ve taken Naked Empire’s Bouffon Intensive, or experienced bouffon players with prior training (let’s talk first if you haven’t trained with me yet)
How It Works: You’ll be in a gang (ideally 5 people) creating a 10–15 minute piece over the week. You can form a group ahead of time or we can help you find one. You should come in with a strong bouffon and an idea or target you’re fired up about. Zoom prep chats encouraged (and may be required) to get your group ready to roll.
You’ll walk away with:
A brand-new, raw, ready-to-share bouffon ensemble piece
Deepened skills in physical dramaturgy and embodied satire
Stronger chops in ensemble devising, audience confrontation, and parody
Tools for crafting work that is both fearless and precis
Momentum and connection to keep building full-length bouffon shows in Toronto
about the teacher
Based in Boston, Nathaniel is a queer, Cali-Rican theater artist.
He is the founding Artistic Director of Naked Empire Bouffon Company, which began in San Francisco in 2009 with an activist mission to devise hilarious, cutting, and visually-provocative satires to catalyze urgent discourse. Since then, Naked Empire has toured across the continent with award-winning new works and training intensives becoming North America’s premier bouffon company. Their productions have been awarded Best of the Fringe three times in San Francisco, the Talk of the Fringe Award and Best-of-Fringe runner-up in Vancouver, the Artist’s Choice Award in Edmonton, as well as Official Selections from the Toronto Festival of Clowns, Vancouver’s Dancing on the Edge Festival, Victoria’s UNOFest, Berkeley’s Blast Festival, Xfest in Edwardsville, Illinois, and Philadelphia's Cannonball Festival. The company uses bouffon, an under-utilized form of highly physical and extremely irreverent comedic satire leading the Huffington Post to praise the work as “devilishly dangerous theatre.”
Currently, he is the Head of Movement and tenured Associate Professor of Performance at Emerson College and he has served as the Director of Physical Comedy for the Sacramento Shakespeare Festival, Movement Designer at UC Berkeley, core faculty of the SF Clown Conservatory, and guest faculty at the Juilliard School.
Cancellation policy:
If, with at least one week's notice, you need to cancel your registration for any reason, please note that Sweet Action Theatre Company will retain $100 of your original purchase as a non-refundable deposit. Cancellations made less than one week before the first day of the intensive will not be refunded.