Philippe Gaulier
Encyclopedia
Philippe Gaulier is founder of École Philippe Gaulier, a theatre school located in Sceaux
, near Paris
. He trained with Jacques Lecoq
from 1965 - 67. Then became a teacher at École Jacques Lecoq from 1976 - 80. Gaulier is also a playwright and has worked as a clown and theatre director. He has published a book The Tormentor (Le Gégèneur) which outlines his thoughts on the theatre, as well as giving many theatre exercises.
Gaulier is notable for his work in the areas of Clown
and Bouffon
. Gaulier is generally recognized as the world's leading teacher in Bouffon, an art form which he holds as a sort of inverted Clown, where a balance is struck between grotesqueness and charm.
Gaulier teaches le jeu and clown all over the world.
is an art form which originated with the 'Ugly People' of France
during the French Renaissance
. Gaulier said excessively ugly people, lepers, and those with disfiguring scars or deformities were "banished to the swamp." The exception was during festivals, when the bouffon (or ugly people) were expected to entertain the 'beautiful people'.
During these performances, the bouffon's goal was to get away with insulting or disgusting the beautiful people as much as possible. Typically, the bouffon would target their attack on the leaders within the mainstream of society, such as the government or the Roman Catholic Church
.
The ideal performance for a bouffon would be one where the audience is wildly entertained, and then go home, realize their lives are meaningless, and commit suicide. This of course is a theoretical ideal instead of an anticipated outcome.
His teachings, similar to Lecoq, work on a 'Via Negativa' approach wherein he encourages students to find the most successful performance outcome for themselves, he does this by either saying 'no' or offering insults to performative suggestions that are put forward which are deemed 'rubbish' by Philippe.
school based around play or 'Le Jeu' being the core of making and performing theatre. The school teaches that acting is a child's game played with great pleasure and dexterity which speaks to the imagination of the audience.
In 1991, The Arts Council of England
invited Gaulier to move his school to England
. He accepted, and the school was based in England for eleven years. In 2002, the school returned to Paris
. It was located in Sceaux between 2005 and 2011. Gaulier has built a new school building in Étampes
which opened there in summer 2011. Former students at the school include the theatre director Simon McBurney
, whose company Theatre de Complicite has been influenced by Gaulier's work, and the actors Emma Thompson
, Marcello Magni, Kathryn Hunter
, Cal McCrystal
and Sacha Baron Cohen
.
Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine
Sceaux is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.-Wealth:Sceaux is famous for the Château of Sceaux, set in its large park , designed by André Le Nôtre, measuring...
, near Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. He trained with Jacques Lecoq
Jacques Lecoq
Jacques Pierre Lecoq born in Paris, was a French actor, mime and acting instructor.He is most famous for his methods on physical theatre, movement and mime that he taught at the school he founded in Paris, L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq from 1956 until his death in...
from 1965 - 67. Then became a teacher at École Jacques Lecoq from 1976 - 80. Gaulier is also a playwright and has worked as a clown and theatre director. He has published a book The Tormentor (Le Gégèneur) which outlines his thoughts on the theatre, as well as giving many theatre exercises.
Gaulier is notable for his work in the areas of Clown
Clown
Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by the grotesque image of the circus clown's colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, and red nose, which evolved to project their actions to large audiences. Other less grotesque styles have also...
and Bouffon
Bouffon
Bouffon is a modern french theater term that was re-coined in the early 1960s by Jacques Lecoq at his L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris to describe a specific style of performance work that has a main focus in the art of mockery.-Etymology and early history:The word Bouffon...
. Gaulier is generally recognized as the world's leading teacher in Bouffon, an art form which he holds as a sort of inverted Clown, where a balance is struck between grotesqueness and charm.
Gaulier teaches le jeu and clown all over the world.
Bouffon
According to Gaulier, BouffonBouffon
Bouffon is a modern french theater term that was re-coined in the early 1960s by Jacques Lecoq at his L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris to describe a specific style of performance work that has a main focus in the art of mockery.-Etymology and early history:The word Bouffon...
is an art form which originated with the 'Ugly People' of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
during the French Renaissance
French Renaissance
French Renaissance is a recent term used to describe a cultural and artistic movement in France from the late 15th century to the early 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that many cultural historians believe originated in northern Italy in the fourteenth century...
. Gaulier said excessively ugly people, lepers, and those with disfiguring scars or deformities were "banished to the swamp." The exception was during festivals, when the bouffon (or ugly people) were expected to entertain the 'beautiful people'.
During these performances, the bouffon's goal was to get away with insulting or disgusting the beautiful people as much as possible. Typically, the bouffon would target their attack on the leaders within the mainstream of society, such as the government or the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
.
The ideal performance for a bouffon would be one where the audience is wildly entertained, and then go home, realize their lives are meaningless, and commit suicide. This of course is a theoretical ideal instead of an anticipated outcome.
His teachings, similar to Lecoq, work on a 'Via Negativa' approach wherein he encourages students to find the most successful performance outcome for themselves, he does this by either saying 'no' or offering insults to performative suggestions that are put forward which are deemed 'rubbish' by Philippe.
École Philippe Gaulier
Founded in 1980 in Paris, École Philippe Gaulier is a theatreTheatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
school based around play or 'Le Jeu' being the core of making and performing theatre. The school teaches that acting is a child's game played with great pleasure and dexterity which speaks to the imagination of the audience.
In 1991, The Arts Council of England
Arts Council England
Arts Council England was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three separate bodies for England, Scotland and Wales. It is a non-departmental public body of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport...
invited Gaulier to move his school to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He accepted, and the school was based in England for eleven years. In 2002, the school returned to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. It was located in Sceaux between 2005 and 2011. Gaulier has built a new school building in Étampes
Étampes
Étampes is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southwest from the center of Paris . Étampes is a sub-prefecture of the Essonne department....
which opened there in summer 2011. Former students at the school include the theatre director Simon McBurney
Simon McBurney
Simon Montagu McBurney, OBE is an English actor, writer and director. He is the founder and artistic director of Théâtre de Complicité in England, now called Complicite.-Early life:...
, whose company Theatre de Complicite has been influenced by Gaulier's work, and the actors Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson is a British actress, comedian and screenwriter. Her first major film role was in the 1989 romantic comedy The Tall Guy. In 1992, Thompson won multiple acting awards, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress, for her performance in the British drama Howards End...
, Marcello Magni, Kathryn Hunter
Kathryn Hunter
Kathryn Hunter is an award-winning English actress and theatre director.Hunter was born in New York to Greek parents but brought up in the UK...
, Cal McCrystal
Cal McCrystal (director)
Cal McCrystal is a British theatre director. He is the brother of the journalist Damien McCrystal and the son of the journalist and writer Cal McCrystal.-References:...
and Sacha Baron Cohen
Sacha Baron Cohen
Sacha Noam Baron Cohen is an English stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and voice artist. He is most widely known for his portrayal of three unorthodox fictional characters: Ali G, Borat, and Brüno...
.