Reinterpretation of drama for contemporary audiences: Jacques Lecoq

The Art of Movement

On 5th December 1956, Jacques Lecoq founded the school in Paris. The aim of the school is to produce a young theatre of new work, generating performance languages which emphasise the physical playing of the actor. Creative work is constantly stimulated, largely through improvisation, which is also the first approach to playwriting.

Jacques Lecoq is regarded as one of the twentieth century's most influential teachers of the physical art of acting. He was born 15 December in Paris, France and participated and trained in various sports as a child and as a young man.

The clown has great importance as part of the search for what is laughable and ridiculous in man. We should put the emphasis on the rediscovery of our own individual clown, the one that has grown-up within us and which society does not allow us to express.

Working on the techniques of practitioner Jacques Lecoq, paying particular focus to working with mask, it is clear that something can come from almost nothing.

by Lynn Everett
The article focuses on bouffon, which is defined by Jacques Lecoq as a theatrical form that uses body masking to transform actors into characters that satirize the society in Australia.