The Planet of Clowns in the Constellation of the Sun
Magdalena Hasiuk
Institute of Art, Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2736-5256
Abstract
The article analyses the varied functions and ways of application of the clown and circus motifs in the more than 54-year-long history of the Théâtre du Soleil. Clowns have passed into the theatre of Ariane Mnouchkine from the “sources” of her theatre inspiration: from Oriental forms, commedia dell’arte, and fair spectacles, from the pedagogic practice of Jacques Lecoq as well as from the space of the abandoned Montmartre (former Médano) circus, where the Thèâtre du Soleil, homeless back then, set the action of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1968). In later productions, clowns reappeared as constitutive elements of the world represented on stage in two guises: as jesters in glimpses of the revolutionary cabaret in Mephisto (1979) and as a kind of buffer introducing new qualities of experience in the instalments of the Shakespearean cycle. In each instance, the personages of clowns in performances of the Théâtre du Soleil broaden the dimensions of the world represented on stage; revealing its complexity and opacity, they become signs of pure theatricality and expose to view numerous paradoxes that can be seen at the individual, social, and transcendent level.
Keywords:
Ariane Mnouchkine, Theatre du Soleil, clown, theatre aesthietics, ShakespeareReferences
Bablet, M.L., & Bablet, D. (1979). Le Théâtre du Soleil ou la quéte du bonheur. Ivry: Editions du CNRS.
Google Scholar
Dragovitch, V. (1983). "Richard II" dans la mise en scène d’Ariane Mnouchkine. In M.T. Jones-Davies (ed.), Du texte à la scène: langages du théâtre. Paris: Société française Shakespeare.
Google Scholar
Ertel, E. (1986). Entre l’imitation et la transposition. Théâtre/Public, 68.
Google Scholar
Ferruccio, M. (1981). Rytuał i widowisko na Bali (A. Wasilewska, tłum.). Dialog, 10.
Google Scholar
Héliot, L. (1984). "Henry IV" par le Théâtre du Soleil. Acteurs, 18.
Google Scholar
Lista, G. (1997). La fête et le tango. In G. Lista (ed.), La scéne moderne: Encyclopédie mondiale des arts du spectacle dans la seconde moitié du XX siècle. Arles: Actes Sud.
Google Scholar
Meyerhold, W.E. (1988). Przed rewolucją (1905-1917) (A. Drawicz, & J. Koenig, tłum.). Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Artystyczne i Filmowe.
Google Scholar
Meyerhold, W.E. (1956). Rekonstrukcja teatru (J. Rdułtowski, tłum.). Pamiętnik Teatralny, 2–3.
Google Scholar
Mnouchkine, A, & Penchenat, J.C. (1971). L’aventure du Théâtre du Soleil. Preuves, 7.
Google Scholar
Mounier, C. (1977). Le plaisir de raconter nos histoires, l’histoire, notre histoire. Revue d’Esthetique, 1–2.
Google Scholar
Onimus, J. (1979). Groteskowość a doświadczenie świadomości (K. Falicka, tłum.). Pamiętnik Literacki, 4, 319-327.
Google Scholar
Rémy, T. (1945). Les clowns. Paris: Grasset.
Google Scholar
Saldo, R. (1991). „1789” par le Théâtre du Soleil ou Révolution mise en scène. W: A. Peyronie (red.). Révolution Française, peuple et littératures. Paris: Klincksieck.
Google Scholar
Simon, A. (1969). Des clowns et des hommes. Esprit, 6.
Google Scholar
Simon, A. (1979). Clowns, tragédiens et croix gammées. Esprit, 7–8.
Google Scholar
Simon, A. (1984). Naître et renaître au théâtre. Théâtre en Europe, 3.
Google Scholar
Simon, A. (1988). La planète des clowns. Lyon: La Manufacture.
Google Scholar
Temkine, R. (1987). Le théâtre au présent. Paris: Bouffonneries.
Google Scholar
Authors
Magdalena HasiukInstitute of Art, Polish Academy of Sciences Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2736-5256
Statistics
Abstract views: 234PDF downloads: 184
License
Copyright (c) 2018 Magdalena Hasiuk
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The author grants a royalty-free nonexclusive license (CC BY 4.0) to use the article in Pamiętnik Teatralny, retains full copyright, and agrees to identify the work as first having been published in Pamiętnik Teatralny should it be published or used again (download licence agreement). By submitting an article the author agrees to make it available under CC BY 4.0 license.
From issue 1/2018 to 3/2022 all articles were published under a Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. During this period the authors granted a royalty-free nonexclusive license (CC BY-ND 4.0) to use their article in Pamiętnik Teatralny, retained full copyright, and agreed to identify the work as first having been published in our journal should it be published or used again.
Most read articles by the same author(s)
- Magdalena Hasiuk, Better to build bridges than walls , Pamiętnik Teatralny: Vol. 68 No. 2 (2019)
- Magdalena Hasiuk, To Find the Body of Lightning: On Selected Characters and Productions of the Odin Teatret , Pamiętnik Teatralny: Vol. 66 No. 1/2 (2017)
- Trevor Hill, Magdalena Hasiuk, «Kalevala—Unwritten Fragments» by Teatr Węgajty / Field Project: Trevor Hill’s Autoethnographic Narration , Pamiętnik Teatralny: Vol. 73 No. 2 (2024)
- Magdalena Hasiuk, A Revival of an Ancient Ritual? Alilujki of the Węgajty Theatre , Pamiętnik Teatralny: Vol. 65 No. 1/2 (2016)
- Magdalena Hasiuk, From Theatre Anthropology to Forest Anthropology: Approaching Teatr Węgajty as an Anthropological Theatre , Pamiętnik Teatralny: Vol. 73 No. 2 (2024)
- Magdalena Hasiuk, ‘We Can’t Do Without a Theatre’: On the Levels of Metatheatricality in ‘The Seagull’ by Anton Chekhov , Pamiętnik Teatralny: Vol. 65 No. 3 (2016)
