Geoff Sobelle
Clown Show
“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace becomes a circus.” – Turkish Proverb
A threadbare curtain opens on a circus that’s seen a million audiences or more. The acrobats and jugglers have long ago walked off the job. The only ones left to run the show are the clowns—scrambling, playing crumbling instruments, and struggling to keep the boat afloat, until the entire show falls apart in a spectacle of total catastrophe.
Making its world premiere at PS21, director, actor, and dedicated absurdist Geoff Sobelle’s Clown Show shines a spotlight on the nonsensical instability of present day America on its 250th birthday weekend. A searing, hilarious portrait of our nation, this falling-apart clown show, is a hallucinatory, mind-bending performance from masters of their form. It is a performance of and about chaos, wondering if perhaps the show mustn’t go on.
Sobelle, a two-time Bessie Award winner and a self-reported enthusiast of the “sublime ridiculous”, uses comedy, illusion, installation and home-spun mechanics to create surreal, poetic pieces that look for humanity where you least expect it.
The show is the culmination of 18 months of development, including a one-month residency at PS21. After its premiere at PS21 this summer, the show will embark on an international tour.
CLOWN SHOW was commissioned by the Edinburgh International Festival. Additional commissioning support provided by PS21 : Center for Contemporary Performance, Stanford University, Arizona State University — Gammage, Stanley Kim, Diane Max, Laurie Oki, and Garth Patil. Developmental support provided by Brooklyn Academy of Music, Monira Foundation/MANA Contemporary, and PS21 : Center for Contemporary Performance.
Geoff Sobelle is an actor, director and creator of original performance works. A dedicated absurdist, he uses illusion, installation and home-spun mechanics to create surreal, poetic pieces that look for humanity where you least expect it. His work is deeply collaborative and reflects long-time partnerships with other multi-disciplinary artists. His most recent works include: FOOD (upcoming BAM Next Wave ‘23), HOME (BAM Next Wave ’17, Bessie Award) and The Object Lesson (BAM Next Wave ’14, Bessie Award). These three works are all rooted in a deep study of centering audience in the fabric of the show. Other recent work includes a composition for Times Square, TimesxTimesxTimes created with Pamela Z and Hear Their There Here (a site-specific sound installation for St. Ann’s Warehouse); Holoscenes (an aquatic performance/installation created with Lars Jan) and Pandaemonium (a multi-media dance work created with Nichole Canuso and Lars Jan). His partnership with Trey Lyford as Rainpan 43 includes: all wear bowlers, Amnesia Curiosa, machines machines machines machines machines machines, and The Elephant Room (created with Steve Cuiffo). Before coming to New York, Geoff was a member of Philadelphia’s Pig Iron Theater Company for twelve years. Other Philadelphia collaborations include: Headlong Dance Theatre, Subcircle, Nichole Canuso and Thaddeus Phillips. Geoff is a Pew Fellow and a Creative Capital grantee. He is a graduate of Stanford University and trained in physical theater at the Lecoq school in Paris.
All of his work to date has premiered at the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival before touring nationally and internationally. In New York, his work has been seen at BAM Next Wave, St. Ann’s Warehouse, New York Live Arts , HERE Arts Center, BRIC, Clubbed Thumb and Bard College; nationally in Philadelphia (Fringe Arts), Boston (Arts Emerson), Washington DC (Studio Theater), Minneapolis (Walker Arts Center), Columbus (Wexner Center), San Francisco (Curran, Theater Artaud), Berkeley (Berkeley Rep), Los Angeles (Kirk Douglas Theatre), La Jolla (La Jolla Playhouse); internationally in the UK (Edinburgh Fringe Festival, London Mime Festival/Barbican); France (Paris Festival d’Ete); Germany (Ruhrfestspiele); Poland (Konfrontacja Teatralne Festival); Australia (Sydney Festival, Perth Festival, Commonwealth Games); South Korea (BIPAF), New Zealand (NZ Festival), Taiwan (Taipei Arts Festival).
As a teacher, Geoff has led workshops both nationally and internationally in devised theatre creation, physical approach to character, clown and “jeu.” He has been a teacher at the Pig Iron school in Philadelphia (APT) and was on faculty at Bard College from 2013-2021. His projects have been supported by the MAP Fund, the Independence Foundation, the Philadelphia Theatre Initiative, the Wyncote Foundation, US Arts International, the Princeton Atelier and the New England Foundation for the Arts.
Performed and Co-Created by Sophie Bortolussi, Nikki Calonge, Mike Dobson, Domenica Fossati, Leo Gurevich, Gideon Irving, Jenn Kidwell, Elvis Perkins & Geoff Sobelle
Created & Directed by Geoff Sobelle
Scenic & Lighting Design: Maruti Evans
Sound Design: Tei Blow
Costume Design: Suzanne Bocanegra
Props Design: Thomas Jenkeleit
Creative Producer: Jecca Barry
Music Direction: Mike Dobson
Original Music by Elvis Perkins, Mike Dobsob, Leo Gurevich, and Gideon Irving
Performed and Co-Created by Sophie Bortolussi, Nikki Calonge, Mike Dobson, Domenica Fossati, Leo Gurevich, Gideon Irving, Jenn Kidwell, Elvis Perkins & Geoff Sobelle
Stage Management: Lisa McGinn & Kelsey Vivian
Technical Director: Chris Swetcky
Production Manager: Brian Freeland
Developed & Produced by Fin Productions
CLOWN SHOW was commissioned by the Edinburgh International Festival. Additional commissioning support provided by Stanford University, PS21 Chatham, Arizona State University — Gammage, Stanley Kim, Diane Max, Laurie Oki, and Garth Patil. Developmental support provided by Brooklyn Academy of Music, Monira Foundation/MANA Contemporary, and PS21 Chatham.
