Clown therapy lets you discover your lighter side

Bhanu P Lohumi

Shimla is re-living the character of Raj Kapoor in the epic movie, “Mera Naam Joker”, with two Egyptian theatre artistes, Kyrillos Makram (Stavros) and Marwa Haiba, conducting a workshop on clown therapy at the historic Gaiety Theatre. Discover and explore the clown in you and enjoy life is the message of clown therapy.

“The world is full of stress and depression and we are doing our little bit to bring smiles and laughter on the faces of people, especially the poor and needy who require some breathing space to come out of their work-sleep, says the duo, which have been associated with various NGOs worldwide.

Besides performing in Egypt and Lebanon, the theatre artistes have also conducted workshops in Delhi, Jaipur, Patiala, Udaipur, Bikaner, Chandigarh and Mumbai and now in Shimla. The artistes are also working for orphans and old-age people. 

“There is a clown in every person and our endeavour is to bring out that clown, so that one enjoys little moments in life,” Says Kyrillos (theatre artist, educator, director and performer) and Marwa (Egyptian clown, photographer and performing artist) who had a chance meeting during a play and decided to work together.

When asked that not many girls act as a clown, Marwa said, “It was Kyrillos who discovered the clown in me and nurtured me as a teacher and when I started, I found the clown within me and it touched my heart”.

“Improvisation is the key and interaction with local artistes and the culture of a particular nation becomes the essence of the act of clowning when we perform abroad,” the artistes said. “We use Gibberish while performing, we gesticulate and speak but do not speak, expressions on the face make the impact,” they explained. 

When we step onto the stage, we are just blank as the first minute on the stage is crucial, you should know what would make the audience laugh and the audience in India is different as compared to Egypt, but girls here are very talented and not shy. They just need a chance to prove themselves.