The Wardrobe Theatre presents Beyond The Ridiculous - online fooling show

The Wardrobe Theatre presents Beyond The Ridiculous in a live,
improvised, online celebration of the human condition!

Voices of Lockdown Live & Unleashed Live online, 8pm Saturday 20 June 2020

Beyond The Ridiculous (BTR) is a company of solo performers who practice the esoteric art of Fooling. Trained and led by clowning and fooling teacher Holly Stoppit, BTR have performed at venues all over Bristol since 2014, most frequently at the intimate Wardrobe Theatre, who are hosting the show online as part of their lockdown programme supported by Arts Council England.

But what is fooling? Good question! A fool enters the stage with nothing. They feel into their bodies, notice how they’re feeling, what they’re thinking, how their body wants to move and use these impulses as their starting point. They use a variety of performance tools including storytelling, dance, song and clowning to create short improvised solo performances that are authentic, raw, emotional, funny and often very moving. The fool works with what is present in the moment, so no two performances will ever be the same. Fooling speaks to the glorious range of human experiences and is relatable and connecting.

Since lockdown, a group of experienced BTR members have been enthusiastically experimenting with ways to translate the beauty of the form, that has relied heavily on presence in a space with an audience, into an online version. What’s abundantly clear is that the uncertainty of this time is something a fool can expertly play with and through that play comes an invitation to access the innermost thoughts and feelings of our fellow humans, which can be deeply nourishing for both performers and audience.

Audience reactions:

“I felt like people had gone inside my brain and acted it out to make me feel better and now I love everybody again.”

“Violently hilarious, insightful, meandering journey through the funniest, lightest, darkest corners of the deranged comedic mind.”

“A lot of joy. Amazing, REAL engaging theatre. We’re talking about what theatre sets out to do. The origins of theatre. Untranslated, original theatre.”

If this is something you'd love to be in on, find out more, here.