BOOKS, ARTICLES, & PLAYS
BOOKS
SEND IN THE CLOWNS
David’s latest in-depth research into the world of clown, with assistance from Mike Funt, explores the work of humanitarian clowns from all over the world. Featuring interviews with artists such as Patch Adams and Michael Christensen, and organizations including Clowns Without Borders and Healthy Humor (US), Le Rire Medecin (France), the Association of Africa Clowns (Benin), Clownselors (India), the Nomadic Rebel Clown Academy (UK), Clown Me In (Lebanon), the Dream Doctors Project (Israel), and Doctor Clown (Ukraine) - to name a few - the book addresses a vast array of remarkable artists who use the clown as a pathway to healing. Available late February 2024.
Clowns: In Conversation
The second edition of the highly regarded book, written by David Bridel in collaboration with Ezra LeBank and published by Routledge, UK, 2022). The project brings together interviews with over 30 of the world’s greatest clowns, including David Shiner, Renee Bazinet, Shannan Calcutt, Nina Conti, Michelle Matlock, Peter Shub, Aziz Gual, Angela de Castro, David Larible, and more. In discussion with David and Ezra, these legends of comedy reveal the origins, inspiration, and techniques that underpin their remarkable odysseys. Clowns: In Conversation is a unique and definitive study of the art of clowning – straight from the horses mouths.
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ARTICLES
American Theatre 2011 Magazine SPECIAL SECTION: THE ARTICULATE BODY, MOVEMENT TRAINING FOR ACTORS
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PLAYS
Lunatics and Actors by David Bridel
Synopsis: Enter the unsettling world of a 19th Century Parisian clinic where a strange experiment is about to unfold. YOU could become the next subject of the evening’s scientific demonstration. Once the electro-shock therapy begins, there’s no telling what will happen next…
Based on the real life obsessions of famed doctor, Duchenne du Boulogne, Lunatics and Actors takes its audience into the peculiar hinterland of emotional authenticity. The clowns of this performance veer wildly from reason to insanity to Hamlet, and things are never far from becoming completely unhinged. Who is really mad after all – the lunatic or the actor?
Cast Size: 4 Males, 1 Female
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SUBLIMITY BY DAVID BRIDEL
Synopsis: SUBLIMITY investigates the life of tormented English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, focusing on the fateful evening in 1797 when he composed his famous pre-romantic masterpiece, Kubla Khan. The tragicomic character of Coleridge - part tender fool, part opium addict - embodies a restless search to understand the nature of creativity and inspiration.
Cast Size: 1 Male
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I GELOSI BY DAVID BRIDEL
"I Gelosi" (The Zealous Ones) lovingly recreates the world of the commedia dell'arte and tells the story of Italy's first great traveling theatre troupe. In the late 16th Century the Gelosi company takes the provinces by storm, thanks to the beauty, wit and charm of Isabella Andreini, one of the very first women ever to play on the stage. Invited to perform at the Court of King Charles IX of France, the Gelosi become the toast of Europe - until they risk the wrath of the Pope with a virulent theatrical satire. Hounded from the French Court, the company's fortunes sink, despite the increasing brilliance of Isabella's talents. Jealousy, madness, and selfishness tear the company apart. Finally, the Gelosi return to the poverty from whence they came.
Cast Size: 6 Males, 4 Females
“Immensely ambitious, vastly entertaining... A vibrant period portrait of a seminal company whose innovations changed the course of theatrical history.” - LA Times
"The sort of play we see far too rarely - smart, articulate, and full of engrossing historical details." - Backstage West
I Gelosi has been produced all over the United States.
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