Just clowning around
These two performers have come all the way from Sweden to enchant city folk with a mixture of mimes, poetry and clown acts.
When we think of clowns, the first expression that lights our faces is a smile. Now what if that smile comes to our faces through a story told by a clown through mimes? Erika Alsborn and Ovidi Llorente Saguar, two clowns from Sweden, are here in Bengaluru to present their unique theatrical production, Take It All, today at Atta Galatta. They describe this theatrical performance as Clown Theatre, a concept in which the two clowns narrate a story through poetic mimes and music.
“I have noticed over the years that 90 per cent of the people who come to watch our production, leave the theatre totally excited and
surprised, and with a smile on their faces. I expect to get a similar response from the people of Bengaluru.
But you never know what can go wrong. So, we always try to adapt according to the situation. This will be our first performance in the city and we are nervous as well as excited about it,” says Ovidi.
Take it all is about two clowns in love who live a happy and simple life and love to play. After they are offered a job, which they accept, they lose the little joys of life that they so treasured and end up having unnecessary conflicts.
“We both are highly influenced by Charlie Chaplin and it reflects in our performances. A mime is something that ignites a person’s imagination a great deal. So, we use mimes to tell stories about gender inequality, greed, forgiveness, relationships and how money has diminished the value of people’s lives today. But we do this keeping in mind that the audience has to smile,” says Erika, who is also an oriental dancer and nurse.
The duo started taking their performance all around Europe since 2009. They have won the Public Award for the best performance in Procontra Independent Theatre Festival in Poland in 2010 as well as the Jury Award in the same festival. Ever since, they have been travelling around the world to explore new possibilities and ideas.
“Ovidi always wanted to do something related to clowns and mimes but never had the opportunity. He came to Sweden from Spain in 2009 to direct a play. He wanted to try something new and roped me in. Together we did our first clown theatre performance called Smile Outside The Pocket. That performance was such a success that we decided to do this as a living and since then we have been traveling with old as well as new concepts of Clown Theatre,” says Erika.