By Alexia Kapralos
What would have been the third Clown on Gould show has been cancelled due to weather conditions sparked by Hurricane Sandy.
Clown on Gould had been scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 30. But as the date neared and the weather worsened, Peter Fleming, the theatre school’s production and operations manager, had to make a judgment call.
“This is for the safety of the students,” Fleming said.
The outdoor stage is supported only by sand bags, which might not hold and could be dangerous due to intense winds, he added.
Fleming said this was a major blow to the hard work of the show’s cast and crew.
“We’re all very disappointed, all the way down the food chain,” Fleming said. “But maybe next year.”
Clown is a comedy show in which third-year theatre students dress up as clowns and perform routines.
Designed by Leah Cherniak, the annual spectacle has been running for more than 10 years as part of a mandatory third-year acting class.
Three years ago, the show was taken outdoors. After choosing their favourite acts from the two-and-a-half hours long on-stage performance, students redid them on Gould Street.
This year the show sold out at Ryerson’s Abrams Studio Theatre from Oct. 23-27.
Cherniak, who is also the class’ instructor, says Clown is supposed to guide each student to discover the type of theatre they are interested in.
Andrew Pimento, one of the students participating, said the actors in Clown have to dig within themselves to find out what is genuinely funny about them.
“The first time you put on the [clown] nose and stand in front of people [is the hardest part]. There is vulnerability in this, like being naked in front of someone for the first time,” said Pimento.
“There’s nothing that’s quite like laughter … that brings people together the way that Clown has.”
Leave a Reply