The Idiot's Paradise |
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David Bridel |
Arrow Schulman |
Harold Nieves Fisch |
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Tiffany Elle |
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Art Direction Jessika Pilkes & Stefan Rambousek Sound Design Taubert Nadalini Foley Artist Ginger Geary Lighting Design Camille Roberts |
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Produced by Tara Touzie |
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DIRECTOR'S NOTE
The Idiot's Paradise came to me when I was teaching a class on Pierrot, the great clown archetype who became synonymous with a brooding, lyrical sort of "fool expressionism" in the 19th and 20th Centuries - especially in France, where the character was canonized in Marcel Carne's remarkable film Les Enfants du Paradis (1945). In that moment of inspiration, it occurred to me that Prince Myshkin, the famed central character of Dostoveysky's The Idiot - a novel I had been thinking about for decades - exhibited many Pierrot-like tendencies. Taking and twisting characters and plot-lines from Dostoyevsky, and soaking the result in the lush melodramatic sensibility of Carne's film along with the Russian music of Dostoyevsky's time, I transposed the new story to a fictionalized 1930's/40's East Coast milieu. And The Idiot's Paradise was born.
A writer, A., is composing a novel that begins with the chance meeting of two beloved stage icons - famed concert pianist Natalia Soroka and populist sensation and mime artist Misha Grey. Their instant attraction is diverted by Misha's encounter with epilepsy, while Natalia's decision to throw in her lot with wealthy socialite Belvedere Rogers seems to seal their fate as unrequited lovers. But when a headstrong journalist named Anna - whom we soon learn is the author, A.'s, younger self - becomes involved in Misha and Natalia's lives, a love triangle emerges that will drag each of the characters towards their doom.
This production has materialized thanks to the hard work, passion, and talents of members of The Clown School Company, to whom I am so grateful.
David Bridel
Cast
Creative Team
David Bridel
Arrow Schulman
Harold Nieves Fisch
Jessika Pilkes
Taubert Nadalini
Ginger Geary
Camille Roberts
Victoria Rocha
Tara Touzie
Meet the Company
Caitlin Stasey
Caitlin Stasey is an Australian actress known for Class of '07, Please Like Me, and Smile. She previously performed the title role in A Kind of Electra, a Clown School Company production at the Edmonton Fringe Festival
Hayden Ezzy
Hayden (Misha Grey) is an actor and CalArts alum, best known as the voice of Fern on Adventure Time. This is Hayden's second production with The Clown School Company. A special thank you to Dean Evans for all their help creating this piece.
Tiffany Elle
On screen, she’s been in Better Things, The High Note, and lots of commercials. On stage, you might have seen her in The Clown School Company's A Kind of Electra and in Los Angeles’s cutest bouffon troupe, iL Fungo.
Colin Coughlin
Colin is a comedian, actor, and writer based in LA and is currently a performing member of The Clown School Company. He recently toured his solo show A Moment to Spare (sirected by David Bridel) in LA, Boston, and New York. He was also an ensemble member for the The Clown School Company's Trickster, which won Best in Dance and Physical Theater at this year's Hollywood Fringe.
Colin has studied at UCB, The Groundlings, and The Clown School, and has performed stand-up all over the country including at The Comedy Store and the Hollywood Improv. He is trained in Clown, Mime, Commedia Dell'Arte, Improv, and Sketch Writing/Performing.
David Bridel
David Bridel is an artist, scholar, author, playwright and educator whose expertise ranges from screen to stage, instruction to leadership. He has been teaching clown, mask, movement, and performance for thirty years, and his private clients work in leading roles on television and in major motion pictures. David’s work as a writer, director, choreographer, and movement director and consultant has been seen on Broadway and in theaters and opera houses including the Mark Taper Forum, The Kennedy Center, Los Angeles Opera, the Ford Amphitheater, The Broad Stage, Louisville Symphony, Classic Stage Company, and at festivals and theaters in New York, Edinburgh, Edmonton, Madrid, Paris, São Paulo, Los Angeles, Vienna, and Beijing. He is the author of four books: Clowns: In Conversation, Send In The Clowns: Humanitarian Clowning in Crisis Zones and Commedia dell’Arte - Contemporary Practitioners (Routledge UK) and Clown Vs Dogma (available through Amazon). He is the Founding and Artistic Director of the internationally renowned organization The Clown School and its award-winning and critically acclaimed offshoot The Clown School Company. The Los Angeles Times writes: “Bridel is the real thing, one of the most inventive, scholarly and vastly challenging voices on the current theatrical scene.”
Arrow Schulman
Arrow (they/them) is an actor, director, clown and storyteller. Recent directing credits include associate directing A Kind of Electra with The Clown School Company for both its Los Angeles and Edmonton runs. They also the founder and artistic director of Living Room Shakespeare, which creates intimate, micro-scale productions of classical works in non traditional spaces. Most recently, they directed and starred in Macbeth and Richard II with LRS. Other favorite acting credits include Trickster with the Clown School Company and Brutus (Julius Caesar) with Revelry Theatre Group. Arrow received a BA in Theatre from Northwestern University and also trained with The Clown School and Dell’Arte International. Check out their work at LivingRoomShakespeare.com!
Harold Nieves Fisch
Harold Abraham Nieves Fisch is an actor, writer, and director best known for his standout performances in television series such as The Cleaning Lady (FOX), Snowfall (FX), and The Leftovers (HBO), as well as the acclaimed short film Tejano Night. His professional acting career took root in the Austin theater scene. He starred in the original production of Will Arbery's Plano with the Paper Chairs Theater Company. Harold made his directorial debut with Muerte, which premiered at the Austin Film Festival. His latest directorial endeavor, What Washes, won multiple awards at the Austin Arthouse Festival and the Cine Las Americas Festival.
Jessika Pilkes
Jessika’s childhood in NYC and early exposure to Cirque du Soleil were formative to her creative journey and love for wonder and whimsy. Jessika graduated from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where she studied film directing and went on to earn a best director award from the Director’s Guild of America for her vintage circus themed short film.
While living in Hong Kong and working as a photographer and videographer, Jessika traveled to over thirty countries, throughout Asia, Northern Africa and Central America, deepening her affinity for visual story-telling and world building.
In addition to design and costuming, Jessika is currently writing, directing and choreographing clown foolery.
Taubert Nadalini
Taubert is an actor, director, designer, and composer who has worked at many theatres across Southern California and on TV for HBO, NBC, and Showtime. USC and RADA alum. taubertnadalini.com
Ginger Geary
Ginger Geary graduated from Columbia University N.Y. in 2005 earning a B.A.in Film theory. She has gone on to earn 8 Emmy Nominations for her work in Post Production Sound, winning two for her work on Steven Kings, “The Shining,” and “Stranger Things.” She lives in Los Angeles where she still works at Warner Brothers as a Foley Artist.
Camille Roberts
Camille Roberts is an LA based lighting designer. She has had the privilege to design for a multitude of productions, including iLuminate at the STRAT Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas, Countdown NYE, and a variety of dance festivals across southern California (camillerobertsdesign.com). Additionally, she has worked as a lighting technician on many shows, including Comet / Poppea at MOCA, When We Were Young Festival, EDC Las Vegas, and many others. Camille is very excited to be working on this production, and hopes that you enjoy it as much as she does!
Victoria Rocha
Victoria Rocha is a new student of The Clown School, but has quickly fallen in love with the artistry of clowning. Her other creative endeavors include writing and storytelling. You can find her creative nonfiction pieces for the online journals Untenured and Sonora Review, and several articles for The Imprint, a nonprofit news outlet focused on issues of the foster care system and juvenile justice. One of her pieces for The Imprint was a source document for a profile on United States District Court judge Dolly Gee in The New York Times in 2018. Several of her personal storytelling tales are on episodes of the podcasts Mortified and RISK! She has a Bachelor of Arts in German, Theatre, and International Affairs from the University of Nevada, Reno and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Southern California. Victoria lives in Los Angeles County, where she works in municipal government for a small city. Writing and performing maintain Victoria's sanity from the toil of government work in this day and age.
Tara Touzie
Tara Touzie is an actor, writer, director and producer. Most recently seen on stage in City Theatre’s production of American Fast and The Brother’s Play at New York Theatre Workshop. She is proud to be producing her first production with The Clown School Company.
Photos
Belvedere Rogers played by Colin Coughlin
A./Anna Parkin played by Caitlin Stasey
Misha Grey played by Hayden Ezzy
Natalia Soroka played by Tiffany Elle
Multimedia
The Clown School Company would like to thank:
Kate Mason & Felicia St Cyr at The Stomping Ground, LA
Dean Evans
David Prottas
Hannah Pilkes
Nick Cohen
If you are interested in connecting with The Clown School Company, write us at: company@theclownschool.com
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