A note from Ethel Darling - Founder

The word 'Clown' has poor connotations in the UK, having proudly worn the title since becoming proffesional and performing internationally as a teenager, I have come across a huge amount of people who upon hearing the title pull a face and say 'I'm scared of clowns.' which is a bit jarring, are you also scared of comedians? Because comedians are clowns, more often I found myself saying I am a comic or a circus performer as they receive a much friendlier response from tinder dates / policemen... although I do love the use of 'clown' as a derogatory term, I think that's fair. I.e someone cuts you up on the road 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING CLOWN?!', fun, but in that sense it means fool i.e not scary.

But what about the greats? Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Laurel & Hardy - pioneers of film 100 years later and almost everyone still knows their names, now we have Rowan Atkinson, Miranda Hart and Diane Morgan we love them because they are funny. Everybody wants to be funny, it's the glue that holds society together, we can laugh in the face of adversity and come to terms with things that scare and irritate us. One clown on a stage can connect an entire audience emotionally, you may have nothing in common with that person on stage but they present the most basic human instinct, needs and wants. They have the power to make you laugh and cry and share an experience with 100 strangers. It's beautiful.

At L'ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris my title was held in high esteem by the other students, the tutors too - although I am aware they found me tiring. Everyone wants to be a clown, but not everyone wants one in the room with them all of the time. It's at this point that I should acknowledge and thank my wonderful family and fiancé for their patience and encouragement. 

The training and the work involved in le jeu / jouer (the game / to play), can be very healing regardless of whether its being honed for stage or not. As children we all played and as adults when asked to experiment and make mistakes we try so hard not to do anything wrong. There is so much joy at our fingertips,  but we hold ourselves back at the fear of looking silly. I take le jeu with me every day, it keeps me bright despite inhibiting the speed at which my admin gets seen to.

Lets all look silly together and reclaim the word 'Clown'.