Who's The Fool Now?
One of my third year’s modules was Independent Project, for which I created and devised my show Who’s The Fool Now?; a clowning performance that pushes the boundaries of racism, sexism, and power.
During the process of devising my Independent Project, I have been presented the opportunity to apply for a call for papers on Comedy for Racial Justice, since my show is in the format of physical dark comedy-clowning. Just a couple of weeks before my show, I received the great news that I have been selected to take part in a conference in which I ended up attending and presenting my piece- the process. This took place in April 2025, in the Manchester Metropolitan University, with all costs funded by the organisation- Mixed Bill.
On the other hand, I have never thought of Who’s The Fool Now? as a show for my Independent Project module purely, but rather as a show I will be applying with for festivals around the world after finishing my university degree. Consequently, for my show, some of the people I have invited are colleagues I work with for the European Shakespeare Network. As soon as my show was over, they insisted me on wanting to see my show in the coming York International Shakespeare Festival, for which I already work. Therefore, I have devised and directed a new version of the original show with an alternative performer to work with me, which was put on the stage of Theatre@41 during Easter 2025. Furthermore, I have been selected to perform Who’s The Fool Now? at the Edinburgh Fringe, this time, working on developing the show as a solo performance.
My next steps is to apply to many other summer festivals between Ireland and the United Kingdom. I am fortunate to say, this is not the first time I put a show of my own in a theatre festival in the United Kingdom, therefore, I am always growing my network, which as someone who works as a freelance artist, to have a good network is the key to make your art visible. In addition, I am working in creating clowning workshops to impart in different countries, creating a pack of workshop-play in a day/week-performing my solo show.
Since the very first year of the degree, I was aware of what I wanted my third year Independent Project to be, because of being part of most of the Independent Project’s from the third years back then. Being able to take part in their devising process and final shows, made me realise what I must do, be aware of, and any notes in general, for when the time for me to do my own comes. This does not mean my show was always the final show, in fact, it went through different forms (verbal, non-verbal, 4 cast, trio, duet…) and shapes. However, it always had the same form of physical dark comedy-clowning. I knew I wanted to make use of Shakespearean fools, fools in society, fools as society and society as fools. Though in the end, I concluded that maybe it was never about being a fool, but rather to ask: who is the fool now?
You can read the research done behind Who's The Fool Now? here: A Guide to Spotting The Fool.