GEORGE BERNARD SHAW: ‘PLAYING THE CLOWN’

GEORGE BERNARD SHAW: ‘PLAYING THE CLOWN’ is a new presentation from Brian Freeland  described as part talk, part one-man-show. Seeing a production of Shaw's play Man and Superman at the Bristol Old Vic during the early weeks of his National Service encouraged Brian to consider the theatre as a potential career: three weeks after demobilisation he started work at the London Palladium. Large chunks of the next twenty years were spent touring abroad, usually for the British Council, often with plays by or about G B Shaw.

Wanting a more substantial Talk that might suit Arts & Literary Festivals and Arts Centres Brian conceived a presentation where he is both narrator and player, adding memories of British Council overseas tours with Shaw productions to his light-hearted chronicles of the life, the plays, the reviews, the correspondence and the complicated personal relationships of the only person ever to have been awarded both an Oscar and a Nobel Prize.

Shaw called the clown “the best part of the circus”, and wrote “all my life I have merely been playing the clown”.
Mrs Patrick Campbell always started her letters to him “Dear Joey” - a reference to that other famous clown, Joseph Grimaldi. ‘PLAYING THE CLOWN’ tells Shaw’s story with respect, with admiration and - as Shaw himself always told it - with humour.

70 minutes. Simple staging: small table, armchair and high stool (all provided) set against blacks. General front lighting,
but three or four focussed and coloured back (or top) lights. Lapel mike, please (if required) - it's quite a mobile performance.

This dazzling presentation gives us Shaw the well-known playwright, Shaw the national politician, Shaw the scourge of the establishment - and yet offers unexpectedly poignant glimpses of Shaw the lover and Shaw in vulnerable old age. It is a rich, multi- layered portrait, and in the course of it we learn why Brian Freeland’s unique experience of Shaw’s work makes him the perfect guide. Highly recommended.                                                                                           Emeritus Professor John Pick.

BUT IF YOU DON’T HAVE A STAGE . . . . .

Since announcing ‘Playing The Clown’, we have been approached by  Societies who want the Shaw presentation but do not have stage or lighting facilities. For various reasons the full presentation cannot be performed from a lectern, or from behind a dining table, and does not work so well at floor level in - say - a church hall or dining room.
To satisfy them Brian has prepared a simpler, floor-level version of the presentation, lasting about 60 minutes, omitting some of the seated scenes but retaining the light- hearted canter through the life, loves and writings of one of his great heroes.

With or without a stage there is a possible Interval break after about 40 minutes, permitting sales of refreshments and ice creams. The second act would be shorter, allowing questions at the end, if required.

This new talk, SHAW ON MUSIC, will attempt to answer that question. Available for booking from September 2015, it will include selections from his published reviews; his thoughts on contemporary composers, conductors, singers and musicians; and a few musical illustrations recorded during his lifetime.
A 45-minute general interest presentation, or a longer version with coffee break for Music Festivals and Recorded Music Societies.