Barbican Brings New Clown to Town
Date: 13 May 1998
A new clown is coming to London town this June with the premiere of Angela de Castro's The Gift at the Barbican Pit. The production, running from 23 June to 4 July 1998, is part of the Barbican's BITE:98 season of international theatre.
De Castro was last seen in London this past December as part of international clown Slava Polunin's Slava's Snowshow, in which she played ‘Rough , at the Old Vic.
Written and performed by de Castro, The Gift is a tragi-comedy about love, loss and loneliness. De Castro's clown character Souza is waiting for her date to arrive...and waiting...and waiting. Will he ever turn up? As she tries to fill the time, Souza walks a tightrope between anticipation and despair as played out against music and silence in the clowing tradition of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin.
De Castro came to England ten years ago after establishing her own theatre company and working extensively in clowning, theatre, film and television in her native Brazil. She also runs a number of clowing masterclasses and workships, such as one titled 'How to Be a Stupid'.
The creative team for The Gift are director Jos Houben and designer Alice Power - both of whom work with the Right Size theatre company - with composer Shirley Pegna and lighting designer Doug Kurht. Ali Houiellebeco performs alongside de Castro.
The run will include one post-performance discussion with de Castro on the evening of Monday, 29 June.
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