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 four-week 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 develop the skills to recognize the impediments we all put in our own way and then to let them go. The goal is to achieve the fabled clown state, a split-consciousness in which we are both player and director, vulnerable and safe, free and grounded.

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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. The intensive will culminate with a small invited showing of some early-stage clown pieces.

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About the Instructors

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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 and DePaul 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.