Press

 

"Elephant Deal never fails to command our attention. Fournier's vaudeville/Weill score grounds us at the intersection of truth and fiction, engagement and entertainment. And the ensemble's live-wire connection to its audience, rendering the perforance both polished and infinitely malleable, only enhances the show's rough-and-tumble, invigorating interrogation of identity."

Kris Vire, Time Out Chicago
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"an incredibly smart piece of work... under the direction of Leslie Buxbaum Danzig, that players... achieved not only a new level of physical subtletly and precision but emotional authenticity."

Tony Adler, Chicago Reader
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"At the heart of what [500 Clown] the non-profit company does is to get the audience to be an active player in a spontaneous moment."

Margo O'Hara, Grapers Block
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"500 Clown's 'The Elephant Deal' is a wonky, Brecht-inspired cabaret... a lovely, death-defying mess... Bring someone who doesn't like theater and whatch them change their mind."

Lisa Buscani, New City Stage
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>additional press

 

Description

500 Clown uses circus arts, improvisation, and action-based performance to produce theater that catapults the performers into extreme physical and emotioinal risk. Performances shift the audience from passive to active observers, creating a charged environment celebrating the unpredictable power of the moment.
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500 Clown Biography

500 Clown Macbeth premiered at Charybdis, a gutted bowling alley on Chicago's Northwest side in the fall of 2000. Recognizing that they had an underground sensation on their hands as well as one of those collaborations you wait for all your life, creators Adrian Danzig, Leslie Danzig, Paul Kalina and Dan Reilly decided to journey on, adding Molly Brennan to the mix. Alternating between performing and rehearsing, 500 Clown works on its shows over years with broad and fine-tuned strokes. The clowns, director and designer actively incorporate feedback from audiences, valuing actual rather than intended communication with audiences.
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Repertory



500 Clown Macbeth (60 min. no intermission)

500 Clown's Macbeth is an unpredictable and hilarious deconstruction of Shakespeare's classic. Three clowns descend upon a stage to perform the Scottish play, and infected by ambition, they compete for the title role. Ripping through the fourth wall, the clowns generate a charged environment in which the audience is left to wonder what was planned and what was created for the first time before their very eyes.

 

 

500 Clown Frankenstein (60 min. no intermission)

Three clowns embark on a madcap journey to construct Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory. Stymied by elaborate and exaggerated period costumes, the clowns are propelled into acrobatic feats in an extended battle with an unruly table. Comic mayhem takes a sharp turn to a devastating climax when one clown is forced to play the role of the creature and suffer abuse and abandonment. Clown make monster.

 

 

500 Clown Christmas (60 min. no intermission)

Diving into the dark and light sides of the all-consuming consumer-driven yet still surprisingly touching Christmas season, three clowns and a three-piece band throw a celebration to make Dicken's Fezziwig proud, complete with a holiday toast, gift-giving, and original live music written by the incisive John Fournier.

 

 

Educational Offerings

 

500 Clown teaches workshops in Risk, Clown, Physical Comedy, Improvisation, Adaptation, and Devising Performance. 500 Clown has taught at advanced theater programs, conservatories, universities, high schools and grammar schools throughout the U.S. 500 Clown will gladly design workshops for the specific interests and backgrounds of participants.
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Downloads and Links

500 Clown

 

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