top of page

Partners supporting the project

Artist Bio

I’m a clown, improviser, artist and performer from Bristol via London and originally from the Fenlands of East Anglia. I make ridiculous comedy about serious subjects. I love making people laugh and feel moved by the visual and visceral spectacle of theatre. For me comedy is empowering. As a working class and neurodivergent woman I have a unique perspective and observational nature that belongs firmly in comedy. I started my creative journey in 2010, as a visual artist, poet, singer, improviser and festival performer, and I enjoy how experimental my practice has become, with live performance, creative collaboration, and the embodied practice of clowning and physical theatre now taking my focus. I’m from an underprivileged background where Art School is a foreign concept, so my creative education has been self-driven, non-conventional and has a DIY punk spirit. Since 2017 I’ve been training in clown with many inspiring teachers including Lucy Hopkins, Peta Lily, Jon Wright, Jamie Wood, Holly Stoppit, Jon Davison, Bim Mason, Angie Belcher, Dan Lees, Sarah Fielding and Robyn Hambrook of the Bristol Clown School.

Previous Performance Work

Fancy Dress Party performance, Kitform , Jamaica Street, Bristol,  May 2025

I want to expand on my recent performance work to make the full length WIP show 'Fancy Dress Party'. I have started to put the idea of the ‘chav’ fancy dress party character into the body through devising workshops with Robyn Hambrook, and I took this new material to perform in front of a public audience very quickly (see video) to guage audience reactions. The character and piece came together very well and was strong, and I feel it’s because I’ve put so much thought into the concept through the process of writing this application and the emotional connection I have to this subject feeds the energy of the performance. I have learned through initial experiments, conversations with supporters, collaborators and audience members that this work is enjoyably uncomfortable, powerful, unexpected and necessary. I have also learned that people who particularly love this work are fellow working class people and middle class people who have worked on their own relationships to privilege. Through the first sharing I have also learned that it has potential to cause offense and make some middle class people look at an issue they don't want to see. It is very interesting to observe the reactions of talking about class in a performance. It’s fascinating.  Through testing ideas I have learned the importance of sharing the context of the work, in that it is based on my lived experience and I'm not a middle class person who is ‘punching down’ to working class culture, or ‘chavs’ (ie my own background). It’s important to approach the topic with sensitivity, care, and a non-judgemental, playful approach. Audience feedback is important for shaping the work, however I don’t want to ‘tone it down’ so much that the meaning is lost. The work is political is supposed to challenge classist views and bring to light a minority perspective within an overwhelmingly middle class medium. 

 

I have learned through beginning to devise work based on the theme of class that it can cause a stir in the devising room, which is normally a place where I am a minority in the room as the only working class person. Historically I have witnessed and experienced the most classism in theatre, devising, dramaturgy and directing workshops, however I have also had the opportunity to meet fellow working class artists and other supportive collaborators and test out working relationships. I have learned that creating a safe space with collaborators who I’ve selected will be paramount to exploring these themes more deeply. I am reluctant to explore this work in devising spaces with unknown people who may be triggered or defensive, which is why gaining financial resources are important to take this work forward.

​​

​

Penelope Moon character act, The Wardrobe Theatre, Bristol (Wonderhaus) - March 2025

Penelope Moon is a character that I made earlier this year and performed at the Wardrobe Theatre in Bristol. She is an embodiment of the life coaches, therapists and people from the new age hippie culture I’ve met over the years who come from quite privileged backgrounds but aren’t able to acknowledge that. Penelope Moon believes that she has worked hard for all the abundance she has in her life, and that poor people are undeserving. She has never had a job but is a full time manifester of abundance. It is an absurd act where she is padded out with cushions and takes on the physicality of a headless chicken when she is questioned about her money and becomes enraged. I learned from making this performance that everyone knows someone like this, but by putting it on the stage, it is considered bold. I had the chance to test out some working relationships during the devising process, and I learned about the importance of working with people who share my values on this topic, are also working class or have done the work to acknowledge their own privilege and class exists. I cemented working relationships with a couple of my collaborators and I have learned how I best make work and who with. Penelope Moon may reappear in the final show, but not necessarily.

'The Artist Known Only As Banana' - Old Market Assembly, Bristol (Scritch cabaret) - Oct 2024

'The Artist Known Only As Banana’ is a devised clown performance playing with accents, class assumptions in the art world and exploring the practice of imitating accents to progress in a chosen career (assimilating with middle class culture). Banana explores the differing standards to which different sections of society are held, and the fine line between avant-garde performance art and a mental health crisis. I devised this piece with direction from Lucy Hopkins, and continued to develop with some of the collaborators I’ve chosen to work with again. Through this process, I’ve learned about how I work best, building trust in the devising room, and trusting myself as a performer. It’s also apparent that the topic of class is taboo, juicy, and can provoke strong reactions, and my intentions behind the work need to be compassionate as well as wanting to make highly entertaining theatre. I’ve performed at cabarets in Edinburgh, London and Bristol and I’ve navigated my pre-show requirements so I can perform at my best using a disability access ryder. I've learned that people love this work, yet the underlying meaning of it being about class is quite subtle and not something that always comes accross to audiences. I've also learned that I love audience interaction in my work and the unpredictability and aliveness it can bring. Also my physicality as a large woman adds to the comedy of my work, especially around dance and movement. 

Keith & Zenith compering - The Glitch, Waterloo, London (Twinkles cabaret) - Apr 2024

In early 2024 I experimented with a drag character called Keith. He is a working class man who worked as a mechanic and had strong misogynistic views, but had been to Goa and experienced new age hippie culture and now thought himself to be a changed man. It was an idea that I have been thinking about for a while based on a clash of cultures; the working class culture of where I am from, and the new age, middle class, hippie culture that I’ve been around alot since leaving where I’m from. I worked in a duo with Emma Davies, who’s character Zenith, a spiritual guru, explored spiritual capitalism. We compered a cabaret night together at The Glitch in Waterloo, London, and I went on to perform Keith solo in Bristol and write a song for him. I learned through this process that I work very well with composer, Seb Truman, who I would like to work with again on ‘Fancy Dress Party WIP’ to write the music. I also learned that I was perhaps trying to tackle too many topics at once with the character Keith. Misogyny, class and spiritual capitalism. I learned about the topics that are most important to me that I want to focus on. Playing a male character from a working class background felt like it could be misconstrued as punching down, and this isnt the route I wanted to go down as I feel there is already alot of satire that exists in the world to ‘punch down’ at working class people, whether male or female.

Stand up comedy performance, Hamilton House, Bristol - (The Comedy School) Nov 2024

Stand up comedy has taught me about tuning into my unique perspective, owning my flaws and comedy as activism. Ideas around my suppressed ‘inner chav’ started to emerge through my stand-up comedy sets, along with my annoyance about being mistaken for a middle class person now and why that might be. My current practice explores how clowning and stand-up comedy can come together.

The AI idiots. Walkabout act - June 2024

I devised an outdoor walkabout clown act, The AI Idiots alongside collaborators exploring robotic AI through clown, butoh and improv. I learned about the process of group devising, performing and producing interactive theatre. I produced and directed a short promo film. I learned how a devising process with no director/outside eye support can take shape and the importance of a shared vision and values when developing group work.

Hazmat & Covid Street Performance, Harbourside, Bristol, July 2020

My early clown performance work developed on the streets of Bristol and Bath, with a co-led group I practiced and performed with from 2017 -2019, as well as devised cabaret sketches. In 2020 I developed a pandemic inspired street clowning piece as a duo ‘Hazmat & Covid’. I learned alot about working collaboratively, the importance of outside eye support and having a strong connection to the ‘Why?’ behind the work being created. I also learned resilience from street performance and how the ‘contract’ with an audience, perceived artistic value and logistics differ from theatre to street performances.

The Pedal Powered Barbers (Oblique Arts) - Green Man Festival 2015

I also worked at festivals on interactive performance installations since 2010 with Arts Charity Oblique Arts. The work was often focussed around promoting sustainability and climate change awareness. I learned how to design wacky projects, get funding, work as a team and interact with the public in character. I learned how creating art around topics I feel strongly about are far more engaging and impactful than presenting facts about it.

 

In 2013-2014 I created characters, costumes and sets for an interactive theatre venue at Shambala, ‘The Waiting Room’. As a working class creative, this was my first experience of very much being a minority in a creative space and experiencing classism in the devising room. My work and creative direction has been steered by this formative time. My debut WIP show, Fancy Dress Party, revisits some of these moments, safely, using multi-disciplinary clowning practices to create an inclusive, challenging, edgy yet lovable piece of theatre. My skills, experiences, and collaborative relationships make me well positioned to make this work at this time, as well as being well resourced with therapy, stable housing and support.

Who Am I Working With?

Robyn Hambrook (Bristol Clown School, Nomadic Rebel Clown Academy, Trickster Laboratory) - Director

I have trained extensively with Robyn Hambrook, Bristol-based Director, teacher and performer. She is a passionate practitioner of clowning, physical theatre, circus and street arts with over 20 years experience. She has an MA in Circus Directing, a Diploma of Physical Theatre Practice and trained with a long line of inspiring teachers. Her performance, directing and teaching work often explores the intersection of clowning and politics.. Her previous show credits include The Vampire Rabbit - Director, Arthur's Odyssey - Director, Canary - Deviser/Performer, The Sexual Health Circus - Director, Breath of Beginning - Director, Shape of Belonging - Director, Sealine Confidential - Deviser/Performer, Beeology - Director

Grainne Monaghan-Young (The Lost Cabaret, Invisible Circus) - Creative Collaborator

Grȧinne is Bristol based clown and multidisciplinary performer, brewed in rural Wales and fermented in clown school (Circomedia FDA). She specialises in underwhelming chaos where playful absurdist, warm-hearted mayhem is guaranteed. She is part of the lost cabaret Bristol, running regular clown cabaret nights at The Wardrobe Theatre as well as working on community-centred projects. She is most excited when collaborating with other fabulous artists and is a regular on the alt-comedy and festival circuit. Her current show ‘I don’t Want to cause a Fuss’ was supported by Invisible Circus’s launchpad residency and is about her working-class Nan and celebrating the everyday. Her previous credits include bicycle touring street theatre show: Bikesplorers, solo clown show: BARRY, which she took to Ed Fringe, multiple Invisible Circus Productions and much more.

Joe Brooks (Bonnet Dog, From the Mud Cabaret, Front Room Weston) - Creative Collaborator

Joe is an actor, stand-up and theatre maker from Weston Super Mare. I first encountered Joe after I was blown away by his alternative comedy set in 2023, and later performed on the same bill together. He trained as an actor at Bath Uni, and he’s prolific on the alt-comedy circuit across the South West and beyond. Show credits include Let There Be Mud, Period Drama, Nudgement Day, Making Plans for Hugo, From the Mud Cabaret and he’s currently developing Bad Thing WIP. Or in his own words ‘That's 97 times on stage, 37 times transporting a penguin 🐧, 10 times pretending to step in dog dirt 💩, 5 times talking to the Mona Lisa, 21 times shouting vagina at halls full of teenagers, 2 times covered in mousse, 9 times taking my trousers off and 3 times getting a ball in a cup’

Emily Sly (Blundabus, Giggle Doctors) - Creative Collaborator

Emily is a clown, fool, storyteller and workshop facilitator. We first met in 2017 on a clown course and I later joined her clown collective ‘The Clown Coven’ in 2022. She is an East 15 Acting School graduate and has trained in clown extensively with many inspiring teachers. She has toured shows internationally with the Blundabus Theatre Company, as well as teaching drama in schools in the UK and across Europe. She co-wrote and performed in Lily and the Little Snow Bear which had a residency at Lyric in Hammersmith then a year long tour of regional theatres. She also works in hospitals as a Giggle Doctor and performs her clown act, Princess Pink Eye, at cabarets in London.

Greg Champion (Balm & Tonic, Holly Stoppit Workshops) - Creative Collaborator

I first met Greg in 2017 on the first clowning course I ever took in Bristol. We have since trained extensively together at the Bristol Clown School weekly practices, as well as clown courses in London. He was instrumental in the devising process for ‘The Artist Known Only As Banana’ and offers great outside eye support. Greg is a clown and a fool, regularly performing with Balm and Tonic, Bristol based Fool Collective and his clown acts Mr Parfait and Cupid. He is a regular on the alt-comedy cabaret scene, performing at The Wardrobe Theatre, Cube Microplex (Bristol), and The Glitch (London) and The Front Room (WSM)

Seb Truman (Abbey Road Studios, Spitfire Audio, Rosewood Music) Composer/Producer

Seb is a producer, engineer, composer, mixer and sample developer. Trained in Music and Sound Recording (Tonmeister) at the University of Surrey, his career has gained him experience across many areas of the music industry. Seb has worked at the legendary Abbey Road Studios, alongside some of the greatest engineers, composers and producers of today and has a wealth of experience recording and mixing for a range of different genres. We met during a 6 week improvised singing course at the Bristol Improv Theatre, and have since collaborated on music for one of my cabaret acts.

Danielle Rose (Watershed, Southbank Centre) - Producer

Danielle Rose is a working class producer. Her work over the last 20 years has included festival producing, project management of a national strategic touring project, international tour management, managing artist development programmes and programming live performance. Organisations she has worked for include Southbank Centre, Lighthouse - Poole's Centre for the Arts, Pavilion Dance South West, Wide Awake Devon, Inside Out Dorset Festival, Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery, Arts University Bournemouth and The Dartington Hall Trust. Danielle is passionate about working with others to address how the creative industries can develop to ensure that people from working class / benefits class backgrounds are not excluded by structural barriers and are better enabled to access, participate in and work in the arts.

'Fancy Dress Party' Development

Through beginning to explore this work the ideas are evolving rapidly. Next I want to experiment with:

  • Audience assumptions that I am middle class (since the arts are overwhelmingly middle class and I have also mostly lost my old accent, this does tend to happen. I am also guilty of making these assumptions about artists/performers).

  • Exploring why I get annoyed when people think I’m middle class.

  • Going deeper into the physicality of the awkwardness and trying it non-verbal

  • Exploring the subject with Bouffon, to pad out the body and make a visual representation of the disgust people feel towards ‘chav’ culture. Exploring this feeling. Perhaps in a group (Bouffons are outcasts of society who have license to mock the ‘powers that be’).

  • Making visually striking, grotesque Bouffon costumes using the fashion of ‘chav’ culture. Adidas stripes, burberry, baseball caps, beer cans, etc. 

  • Work on framing - so it’s absolutely clear that this work is not punching down. How to reveal context? Autobiographical - stories, projections of photographs of teenager me, soundbites, film?

  • Revisiting harmful ‘chav’ bashing media alongside music from the naughties. 

  • R&D - speaking with people who have had, or been to ‘chav’ fancy dress parties in the last 20 years. Was it fun? Do they see it as harmful? Why do they enjoy it? Speaking with other working class people about their experiences of ‘Chav’ fancy dress parties.

  • Making music with composer - sampling thoughts on class (live or prerecorded - experiment). 

  • High energy dancing to techno choreography.

  • Playing with accents and assumptions in the artworld, dramaturgical thinking about my underlying research question - ‘Can ‘chavs’ make art?’ - possibly bring in my absurdist character ‘The Artist Known Only As Banana’. 

  • Explore a new character 'The Gatekeeper'. 

  • Cardboard cars and tracksuits - recreating a real ‘chav’ party with audience participation

  • Sound bites - well spoken explanations of class theory.

  • Class taboo - why can’t we talk about it? Reactions I’ve had to wanting to make this show. 

  • Cognitive dissonance around class - why so many middle class people think they are actually working class. 

  • Explore how privilege rewires the brain -as per results of psychology experiment using a rigged game of monopoly.

  • Exploring how I want the audience to feel? Challenged, motivated, or seen. But not defensive. 

  • Playing with the structure of my show, rhythm and pacing, melding characters and plot lines together. Abstract, visual, bold, experimental. Dance music and DJ’ing informing the structure. 

  • Why is class not part of the Equality and Dersity Act (2010). Why is this oppressive factor so invisible? Why is it so difficult for a lot of privileged people to acknowledge?

bottom of page