The Splendid Pretender

The Splendid Pretender BOUFFON: Actor Training in Parody, Satire and The Grotesque. And now they wait, amidst our ecstatic squeals and disgusted guffaws, to deliver the killing blow.

Request an application form: [email protected]
How much: $900
When: January 17th - February 11th, 2022; Mon-Fri, 9am-1pm
Where: 21 Meola Road, Westmere, Auckland 1022. Banished! … In their forests, swamps and sewers they have found perfection in parody, mastery in mockery, power in proclamation. The shadowy, sly cousin of traditional clown, bouffon is a form for shaping the actor’s most

explosive impulses: to rebel, truth-tell, pervert, and entertain. Combining game-playing with the grotesque, bouffons are a pathway to the political, poetic, and profoundly naughty. A liberating experience for the actor. During this intensive course, participants will learn the art of satire, mimicry and distortion as an approach to performance, drawing on all aspects of the actor’s craft to play at fantastic scale with subtlety, sensitivity and charm. They will investigate the expressive potential of grotesque forms, and sharpen their listening skills to a knife-edge. Over four weeks you will:
- Develop your own Bouffon.
- Build foundational skills in Play (Le Jeu)
- Rejuvenate your “actor’s toolkit” – voice, body, movement and fantasy.
- Hone your improvisational skill in responding to the audience.
- Generate original performance through text and collaborative play. It is the perfect springboard into 2022. Taught by:

Aaron Cortesi
Professional actor, director and teacher who has worked locally and internationally with renowned theatre companies, including Kaixinmahua (Shanghai), Taki Rua, A Slightly Isolated Dog and Long Cloud Youth Theatre. A graduate and former tutor of Toi Whakaari’s BPA and MTA programmes, and an alumnus of Ecole Philippe Gaulier, Aaron has inspired many of today's young professionals and is one of the country’s leading practitioners of acting and theatre making. Jonathan Price
Professional actor, director, teacher, whose credits include the internationally recognised, interactive adaptations of Don Juan and Jekyll & Hyde (A Slightly Isolated Dog); A Traveller’s Guide to Turkish Dogs (co-creator and director); and Indian Ink’s The Elephant Thief (actor/puppeteer). Formerly a regular guest tutor and director at Toi Whakaari, Jonathan is a graduate of the VUW Theatre Programme, The John Bolton Theatre School, and an alum of Ecole Philippe Gaulier. Course fee: $1300

Visit our page or request an application form at [email protected]

02/01/2022

📬 A message from Splendid Pretender alum, Bobby Wood! 🐄🐑🚜 Email [email protected] to apply to our Bouffon training this summer! Limited places!

08/12/2021
All the information for our upcoming BOUFFON course is available in our flyer! Email splendidpretender@gmail.com for a h...
08/12/2021

All the information for our upcoming BOUFFON course is available in our flyer! Email [email protected] for a high quality PDF.

Splendid Pretender presents BOUFFON: Actor training in Parody, Satire & The Grotesque. Start the new year with some seri...
08/12/2021

Splendid Pretender presents BOUFFON: Actor training in Parody, Satire & The Grotesque. Start the new year with some serious up-skilling! Improve spontaneity and audience responsiveness. Learn to inhabit massive and daring performances with subtlety and charm. Add some darkness and shade to your palette. Take risks in a robust and encouraging environment. Forget 2021 and recalibrate for 2022!

Email: [email protected] to request an application form. Click through to our page for more details

03/12/2021

All the course details on one handy flyer! Email or message to request a PDF version. Applications still open, but get in quick!

24/11/2021

🔴🟠🟢 TRAFFIC LIGHT UPDATE 🔴🟠🟢

✅ The BOUFFON course will go ahead with appropriate health measures at ALL LEVELS of the traffic light system.

💉 We will be asking our participants to have a vaccine pass.

We believe this is the safest and surest way of creating a supportive training environment.

APPLICATIONS STILL OPEN!

Co-Tutor Jonathan Price spoke with KickArts about the Bouffon course and our approach to teaching. Link in the desriptio...
14/11/2021

Co-Tutor Jonathan Price spoke with KickArts about the Bouffon course and our approach to teaching. Link in the desription - Jonathan appears around the 70 minute mark.

DOWNLOAD LAST NIGHTS EPISODE NOW

Emma & Stephen catch up with:

- Astrid Visser, Design Kaihapai and Jean Donaldson, graduating honours design student from Massey University Exposure Graduate Exhibition
- Eileen Merriman author
- Jonathan Price, actor, director,teacher from The Splendid Pretender
- Joel Ruys, singer songwriter from Joel Ruys & the Huia Express
- Helen Dowthwaite, Chair of Music Therapy New Zealand
and Sharon is back to review The Heron’s Cry by Anne Cleaves

Download now at
https://www.planetaudio.org.nz/listen/kickarts/kickarts/830602

"This course highlights ideas and methodologies that are relevant to all forms of acting for me. The most valuable and a...
29/10/2021

"This course highlights ideas and methodologies that are relevant to all forms of acting for me. The most valuable and applicable training available outside of a conservatory." - 2021 participant.

The Splendid Pretender offers a unique opportunity to reconnect with your craft. In 2022 we are offering 4-weeks of Bouffon training. Visit our page and request an application form at [email protected]

The shadowy, sly cousin of traditional clown, bouffon is a form for shaping the actor’s most explosive impulses: to rebel, truth-tell, pervert, and entertain. Combining game-playing with the grotesque, bouffons are a pathway to the political, poetic, and profoundly naughty. A liberating experience for the actor.

When: 17 January-11 February 2022, Mon-Fri, 9am-1pm
Where: 21 Meola Road, Westmere, Auckland
How much: $900

"Some of the most joyous and playful weeks I've had since leaving drama school." The Splendid Pretender offers a unique ...
20/10/2021

"Some of the most joyous and playful weeks I've had since leaving drama school."

The Splendid Pretender offers a unique opportunity to reconnect with your craft. In 2022 we are offering 4-weeks of Bouffon training. Visit our page and request an application form at [email protected]

The shadowy, sly cousin of traditional clown, bouffon is a form for shaping the actor’s most explosive impulses: to rebel, truth-tell, pervert, and entertain. Combining game-playing with the grotesque, bouffons are a pathway to the political, poetic, and profoundly naughty. A liberating experience for the actor.

When: 17 January-11 February 2022, Mon-Fri, 9am-1pm
Where: 21 Meola Road, Westmere, Auckland
How much: $1300

The perfect springboard into 2022. Visit our page and request an application form at splendidpretender@gmail.co...
15/10/2021

The perfect springboard into 2022. Visit our page and request an application form at [email protected]

The shadowy, sly cousin of traditional clown, bouffon is a form for shaping the actor’s most explosive impulses: to rebel, truth-tell, pervert, and entertain. Combining game-playing with the grotesque, bouffons are a pathway to the political, poetic, and profoundly naughty. A liberating experience for the actor.

When: 17 January-11 February 2022, Mon-Fri, 9am-1pm
Where: 21 Meola Road, Westmere, Auckland
How much: $900

During this intensive course, participants will learn the art of satire, mimicry and distortion as an approach to performance, drawing on all aspects of the actor’s craft to play at fantastic scale with subtlety, sensitivity and charm. They will investigate the expressive potential of grotesque forms, and sharpen their listening skills to a knife-edge.

The teachers: Jonathan PriceAn actor, director and teacher, Jonathan is a proponent of creative processes and pedagogies...
08/10/2021

The teachers: Jonathan Price
An actor, director and teacher, Jonathan is a proponent of creative processes and pedagogies that emphasise the actor as maker and player. Credits include the internationally recognised, interactive adaptations of Don Juan and Jekyll & Hyde (A Slightly Isolated Dog); A Traveller’s Guide to Turkish Dogs (co-creator and director); and Indian Ink’s The Elephant Thief (actor/puppeteer). Formerly a regular guest tutor and director at Toi Whakaari, Jonathan is a graduate of the VUW Theatre Programme, The John Bolton Theatre School, and an alum of Ecole Philippe Gaulier.

Address

21 Meola Road, Westmere
Auckland
1022

Telephone

+64274659800

Website

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