Helikos – the Comedy Spiral

Yesterday in my favourite coffee bar I came upon a multi-national troupe of comedy players!

They told me that they were students of comedy theatre – living and learning in Florence at an acting school called Helikos – based remarkably close to where I live, they had completed their last performance for this year but invited me to bring friends to an Open Class they were holding on Friday afternoon.

Reassured that their common language was English I accepted their invitation to bring a group along to watch their class.

Their theme for the afternoon was Clowns in Life.

NB This is an image from last years class – but the props are essentially the same.

According to their website – The mission of Helikos, where they are studying, involves the professional training of theatre artists and the promotion of an artistic educational experience based on their pedagogy of physical creativity.

On Friday afternoons the students have a self-managed class called CREAZIONE, during which they create short theatrical scenes on themes assigned to them each week. They show these pieces to the faculty and other students every FRIDAY afternoon and at the end of each piece, or when it was felt appropriate they received feedback from the teachers.

Rather than disturb the actors whilst acting I only took photos during the feedback sessions but I hope they give a sense of space and activity – these guys – with or without their red noses –  really made us think about how these clowns would appear in a real life situation – and the function of Clowns in Life