Red Nose Intensive
Fall 2025 Workshop
Level 1
August 18 to October 6 (8 sessions)
Mondays, 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Experience the most fun and transformative form of physical theater training, the Red Nose Mask, an invitation to finding presence, playfulness and vulnerability on stage.
Location: Bramble Arts Loft, 5545 North Clark Street, 2nd Floor, Chicago IL 60640
Level 1
Instructors: Marc Frost and Brandon Fogel
Contact: RedNoseIntensive@gmail.com
Workshop Fee: $300
(Class size limited to 12 students)
Once called "the smallest mask in the world", the Red Nose Mask is an open invitation to a world of free play and personal growth inside the context of theater performance. Across this intensive, participants will learn how to accept the invitation to play offered by the Red Nose. In front of an audience of one's peers, participants will be encouraged to be fully present and playful by recognizing and letting go of the impediments we all put in our own way. The goal is to achieve a state of openness on stage called the clown “state”, where we can feel both vulnerable and safe, free and grounded.
Our belief is that this work is valuable for anyone interested in self-realization through creative pursuits, on stage or otherwise. Each week we will explore the Red Nose with various exercises that will offer opportunities for growth. The class will be taught with the goal of creating a collaborative, community-forward atmosphere. Class size will be kept reasonably small so that each student has time to receive individual attention.
About the Instructors
Marc and Brandon have enjoyed diverse journeys through the world of physical theater. They both studied and worked extensively with Paola Coletto and with her guidance co-founded and performed in the Dal Vivo performance troupe. Marc received Lecoq training at LISPA in London, then returned to Chicago where he has taught with Paola Coletto at the School for Theatre Creators as well as Columbia College Chicago, Northwestern University, DePaul University and Roosevelt University. He is the founder and director of Theater Unspeakable, and is co-founder and co-director of Physical Theater Festival. Brandon studied Red Nose Mask with Paola Coletto and received Lecoq training at the School for Theatre Creators and has extensive experience teaching at the university level.
Red Nose Intensive
Fall 2025 Workshop
Level 2
October 20 to December 10 (8 sessions)
Mondays, 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Continue the fun of exploring the Red Nose Mask, an invitation to finding presence, playfulness and vulnerability on stage, and learn to build your own clown pieces.
Location: Bramble Arts Loft, 5545 North Clark Street, 2nd Floor, Chicago IL 60640
Level 2
Instructors: Marc Frost and Brandon Fogel
Contact: RedNoseIntensive@gmail.com
Workshop Fee: $300
(Class size limited to 12 students)
Building upon the work of the first Red Nose Intensive, this course will focus on the creation of clown pieces. Having developed a stronger sense of one’s playfulness inside the Red Nose Mask, participants will now discover how to build a clown piece from scratch. First, the class will provide a quick refresher on the presence and playfulness needed to create a truthful, vulnerable clown “state”. Then, participants will jump into games for creating content and strategies for scaffolding creative ideas into pieces. Finally, the participants will learn how to blend reliable structure with dynamic spontaneity in their pieces. The goal is to build and perform a fully-realized clown piece where the performer can feel both vulnerable and safe, free and grounded in the presence of a live audience.
Our belief is that this work is valuable for anyone interested in self-realization through creative pursuits, on stage or otherwise. Each week we will explore the Red Nose with various exercises that will offer opportunities for growth. The class will be taught with the goal of creating a collaborative, community-forward atmosphere. Class size will be kept reasonably small so that each student has time to receive individual attention.
About the Instructors
Marc and Brandon have enjoyed diverse journeys through the world of physical theater. They both studied and worked extensively with Paola Coletto and with her guidance co-founded and performed in the Dal Vivo performance troupe. Marc received Lecoq training at LISPA in London, then returned to Chicago where he has taught with Paola Coletto at the School for Theatre Creators as well as Columbia College Chicago, Northwestern University, DePaul University and Roosevelt University. He is the founder and director of Theater Unspeakable, and is co-founder and co-director of Physical Theater Festival. Brandon studied Red Nose Mask with Paola Coletto and received Lecoq training at the School for Theatre Creators and has extensive experience teaching at the university level.