Tears of a Clown

'Romantic burnout’ is a phrase that can be applied to love, life or our passion for the arts, including theatre, right? However, one millisecond into a patently impassioned conversation with the artistic director of the Barabbas Theatre Company, Raymond Keane, speaking about their new production, one senses that the opposite is true of this guy.

In fact, as he focuses on Circus, which is inspired by Fellini’s classic La Strada, Keane sounds as inspired as he was the day he first saw the movie in Amsterdam back in the 80’s and became besotted by the idea of being a theatrical clown/mime artist/actor. Indeed, his obsession with the film has led him through more than one theatrical interpretation of the film, none of which “were quite right.” Until now. So why was La Strada such a primary and maybe even primal influence on his life?
“Well before I answer that question I must say that I don’t use the word ‘adaptation’ in relation to La Strada and Circus,” he responds. “I did try to adapt it years ago, and did a couple of versions I was quite pleased with, but not pleased enough. Yet, as to why I am so attracted to La Strada, I saw it way before I got involved in theatre. I was a hairdresser, living in Amsterdam, and I used to go to The Milky Way, which, back then was a hippie kind of club where bands like U2 and Gang Of Four played. But it was a gig space, tea house, theatre and had a cinema and one night, on my own, I went to see this black and white film, sub-titled, I never heard of it and it blew me away. This was long before I knew I was going to become a clown or, rather, make theatre that is clown based.”
For those who have yet to experience the Italian neorealist’s masterpiece, La Strada, tells the tale of a ‘brute’ of a strongman Zimpano, played by Anthony Quinn, and a child-woman clown, Gelsomina, played by Fellini’s wife at the time, Guiletta Masina. It was the latter; in particular, whose performance had a profound effect on Raymond.
“It definitely came back to haunt me when I took up theatre” he admits. “My first love was movement theatre, mime and things like that and I never forgot her performance in the film. But my introduction to theatre was through Thom McGinty. I was in Amsterdam, in my flat, which I shared with Fintan Fitzgerald – brother of Sandy, who ran the Grapevine Arts Centre in Dublin – and the Grapevine Theatre company arrived on our doorstep, they were doing a show in The Milky Way, directed by Thom, and I started reading about mime, saw the guys performing on the street and it was pure magic and I decided ‘I want to do that.’ Then Thom painted my face, gave me a costume and an invisible bugle and sent me out on the streets of Amsterdam and that is where is all started for me.”
This anecdote clearly shows how influential Thom McGinty was in terms of, let’s face it, a form of theatrical life in Ireland that is under-celebrated – the art of the clown. But, not surprisingly, it is central to Circus.
“This time I realised there is no point in just doing an adaptation unless I have something else, something new to offer to it,” Raymond explains. “So I got a dramaturge on board, Jocelyn Clarke, just to ask questions of me such as, ‘What do you want to say, what do you want to do?’ His job is to provoke rather than tell; lead you somewhere where you think you might not go. So the circus setting of the film kept coming to the fore and I’d been working with these guys from the north, Tumble Circus and thought ‘maybe the way to go is to do it with circus performers’! So now it’s a non-verbal circus play, which still hangs on to the trinity of players form La Strada – the brute, angel-clown and the fool. But I’ve tweaked it so it’s not so much brute and angel-clown and more akin to a Cain and Abel story. We’re only three weeks into rehearsal but I really feel this works and am really excited and hope audiences feel the same!”

Circus opens at the Project Arts Centre October 30. Call 01 881 96134/5 for more info.