Led by Angela de Castro             

 Monday 6th to Friday 17th January 2025 (days off Sat 11th and Sun 12th) / 9am- 6pm / £900
To request an application form, email:  whynotinstitute@aol.com

‘Clowning offers to the theatre practitioner an immense spectrum of new possibilities,

a freedom that we can’t find in any other art form.’

Clowning is an art of courage and discipline; not a technique but a state that needs to be explored fully. This course offers 10 days of serious and enjoyable aimed at developing the clown’s intelligence, and the confidence to use and apply this unlimited power of imagination in any creative or performance context.

Come prepared for challenges and change. It is a rare opportunity to work with a theatre practitioner who for over 30 years has been seriously dedicated to research into, and use of, clowning, in all aspects of performance. This is a safe space to work, with expert guidance through de Castro’s methodology for each participant’s individual journey of development as a performer. It creates a supportive world in which participants can joyfully make mistakes – with a great deal of laughter and play along the way.

Suitable for clowns (beginners and experienced), actors, directors, dancers, writers, artists in any field, as well as the playful and the curious from all walks of life.

 ‘De Castro’s gift is in bringing to the fore the sometimes very quiet voice at the centre of the artist’s being and expressing that. In an atmosphere as serious as it is playful, laughter and discipline lead to a connecting with inner truth and the principles at the heart of acting and of communicating with an audience. Experience the invigorating presence of an experienced performer who lives to share the joy and simplicity of the clown form and how it can so usefully relate to the art of acting.’

STEPHEN WISKER (ACTOR / DIRECTOR / STORYTELLER / UKULELE-IST)

**Advanced exercises for experienced clowns** Led by Angela de Castro 

Monday 20th to Friday 24th January 2025 / 9am- 6pm / £500
To register your interest and/or request an application form, email whynotinstitute@aol.com

The state of clown is like a muscle that needs to be exercised; the more practice and training a performer has, the stronger the results. Through the advanced exercises at this course, experienced clowns and actors who use clowning on their work, can stretch themselves to improve their ‘clown-fitness’ and make them better prepared to deal with even more challenging clown scenarios.

This unique workshop is specifically for experienced performers who take fun, play and stupidity very, very seriously. Attendees will be able to work alongside performers of the same level while exploring a range of advanced techniques and improvisation scenarios.

De Castro’s structured approach focuses specifically on the areas that are most challenging for the professional performer. By focusing on imagination, playfulness and the pleasure to be present, every section of the workshop has real practical lessons that can be applied to the clown’s existing performances and help structure the development of new ones. Filled with a mix of exercises, advanced techniques and improvisation scenarios, it’s an opportunity to train and play with performers of the same level.

It is a challenging, enjoyable and rewarding week of work for those who put their all into being seriously silly.

‘A teacher, a Master Clown, who is very delicate – who respects the performer in front of her and takes care to take you on the best path, so you do not expose yourself unnecessarily… A director who helps performers build and deliver their scenes with confidence.’ 

MICHELLE SILVEIRA (CLOWN / EDITOR ‘WOMEN CLOWNS’ MAGAZINE)

Led by Angela de Castro
Monday 27th – Tuesday 28th January 2025 / 9am- 5.30pm / £220
To request an application form, email: whynotinstitute@aol.com

When we allow the clown to think, it is amazing what they come up with!

For silent and speaking clowns looking to develop their practise, this workshop focuses on maintaining the state of clown by training the mechanism of the clown’s thoughts.
Through games and exercises, this workshop gives you techniques to maintain the clown’s inner monologue, giving the clown space to think.

Audiences love to follow clowns’ thoughts; to see clowns thinking and finding amazing solutions and answers to everyday life. But how often do our own thoughts come faster than the clown’s? Our thoughts intrude and interrupt the clown’s voice.
Workshop participants will be challenged not to let their own thoughts interrupt or come before the clown’s thoughts. In a series of games and exercises participants will deconstruct the mechanism of thoughts, create space for their clown to think, and fill their mind with the clown’s loud voice, leaving no space for other thoughts.

Often harder than anticipated, maintaining the clown’s inner monologue allows us to develop a true clown’s intelligence!

This workshop isolates the mechanism of the clown’s thoughts:
A training in how to maintain the state of clown
It is harder than we think
Participants need to be clowns
Our own intelligence to problem solving is faster that the clown’s own intelligence. Very difficult not to let our own thought to come first that the clown’s thoughts.
How useful this kind of workshop can be for those who wants to explore silent clowning as well as for those who perform with text.
How beautiful is to allow your clown to think
Audiences like to follow clown thoughts, to see clowns thinking and find solutions
The text of silent clown shows is the line of thoughts. That allows you not to ‘drop’ from the clown state.

Led by Suzie Ferguson
Wednesday 29th to Friday 31st January 2025 | 9am to 6pm | £300
For clowns, actors, dancers and performers interested in making playful and meaningful connections in health and social care settings.

This 3 day workshop will be a wonderful journey into the therapeutic clown world, where freedom, play and compassion form the cornerstones of good practice.
We will explore how the 5 principles of therapeutic clowning – simplicity, generosity, lightness, honesty and joy – can be harnessed to create meaningful and reciprocal connections that can transform experiences of adversity into ones filled with laughter and joy.

We will work as a group, in duos and individually, using practical games and exercises that can be easily applied to healthcare settings as a frame for our learning.

WORKSHOP THEMES:

Five elements of clowning
Power of attention
Presence and sensitivity
Emotional honesty and embodiment
The Game

Suzie Fergunson has 13 years experience of clowning in paediatric hospitals, hospices and SEN schools as well as in Dementia Care settings. She was a co-creator and performer in Curious Shoes, a theatre performance for people living with dementia and their carers, and MESS, a clown musical for young people with complex needs. Suzie is the former Artistic Director of Hearts and Minds, Scotland’s therapeutic clown charity, and she has taught her own workshop in Scotland, Denmark, Latvia, Bangalore and most recently Ukraine.
She is a Board member of Red Noses International.
Suzie is also a Why Not Institute alumni. A real WhyNotter!

Led by Angela de Castro                                                            

Saturday 11th January 2025 / 2pm-5pm / £35

To request an application form, email whynotinstitute@aol.com

In the beginning there was Play
… and Play is everything !

Playfulness is at the heart of clowning. 

For performers, actors, clowns, creative minds…  it is important to keep the state of playfulness fresh and alive, to feed the soul and keep it light.  It is fundamental for clowns and all artists to exercise the mind, the body and the spirit. The spirit is often overtaken by the physical and intellectual demands of the job. Very often, it is the techniques that get the focus. However, what is a clown / artists without a soul? Without a spirit?  Let’s not forget that our souls need as much training and feeding as our bodies and minds.

Using simple games and light exercises, ‘The Pleasure of Playing’ will liberate the imagination and brings participants a new burst of energy, focus and awareness. Based on collective non-competitive games, this structured and surprisingly thought-provoking workshop became a must for clowns, artists and creative minds of all disciplines.

Led by Jack Stark

Saturday 18^th January 2025 | 10am to 5pm | £ 120

To request an application form, email whynotinstitute@aol.com

BEAUTY OF MISTAKES

How do you respond when something goes wrong? How do you deal with performing in environments you are uncomfortable in? How can you cope with unexpected situations that arise mid performance? How do you ensure you engage the crowd when you are “not feeling it today”?

This workshop will look at how can you turn a mistake or unplanned event into something magical for the audience. It covers a series of tried and tested clown exercises that have transferable skills for all performance disciplines, while tapping into your inner clown and it will leave you with a collection of tools and exercises that you can practice on your own long after the workshop has finished.

The concepts covered will assist those who often find themselves in challenging performance situations – as all artists do – and empower them to turn unexpected and unplanned events into beautiful pieces of entertainment.
Clowning is a powerful tool. With the clown’s mindset, you can approach situations that you may normally find uncomfortable with joy and enthusiasm. Students of clowning often find themselves saying “I had no idea I could do that” and it is this phenomena that this workshop taps into.

It’s also going to be a lot of fun, and teaching through a series of games means you will leave with a collection of tools and exercises that you can practice on your own long after the workshop has finished.

Jack Stark is a full time cabaret, burlesque and theatre clown. For the last 19 years he has travelled extensively, performing at variety, burlesque and cabaret shows in the UK and Europe as well as working in theatrical projects and touring with circus both as clown and ringmaster.

Away from performing, Jack spent 4 years elected to the Variety and Circus Entertainers Committee at the union Equity, and he currently sits on the board of inclusive performing arts organisation We Are Epic. He became a core member of The Why Not Institute team in 2012. He will be a familiar face to many ‘Why Notters’ as he has frequently assisted on the How To Be A Stupid and How To Be Even More of a Stupid courses, as well as delivering his own workshops and working behind the scenes across the Why Not Institute’s activities.

Full description of this workshop on:
For an application form, please email: whynotinstitute@aol.com

Led by Angela de Castro – in person only                                                                                                                                                  To hear about future dates please sign up to our newsletter here.

Monday 6th – Friday 17th January.

‘Clowning offers to the theatre practitioner an immense spectrum of new possibilities,

a freedom that we can’t find in any other art form.’

Clowning is an art of courage and discipline; not a technique but a state that needs to be explored fully. This course offers 10 days of serious and enjoyable aimed at developing the clown’s intelligence, and the confidence to use and apply this unlimited power of imagination in any creative or performance context.

Come prepared for challenges and change. It is a rare opportunity to work with a theatre practitioner who for over 30 years has been seriously dedicated to research into, and use of, clowning, in all aspects of performance. This is a safe space to work, with expert guidance through de Castro’s methodology for each participant’s individual journey of development as a performer. It creates a supportive world in which participants can joyfully make mistakes – with a great deal of laughter and play along the way.

Suitable for clowns (beginners and experienced), actors, directors, dancers, writers, artists in any field, as well as the playful and the curious from all walks of life.

 ‘De Castro’s gift is in bringing to the fore the sometimes very quiet voice at the centre of the artist’s being and expressing that. In an atmosphere as serious as it is playful, laughter and discipline lead to a connecting with inner truth and the principles at the heart of acting and of communicating with an audience. Experience the invigorating presence of an experienced performer who lives to share the joy and simplicity of the clown form and how it can so usefully relate to the art of acting.’

STEPHEN WISKER (ACTOR / DIRECTOR / STORYTELLER / UKULELE-IST)

**Advanced exercises for experienced clowns** Led by Angela de Castro 

Monday 20th to Friday 24th January 2025 / 9am- 6pm / £500
To register your interest and/or request an application form, email whynotinstitute@aol.com

The state of clown is like a muscle that needs to be exercised; the more practice and training a performer has, the stronger the results. Through the advanced exercises at this course, experienced clowns and actors who use clowning on their work, can stretch themselves to improve their ‘clown-fitness’ and make them better prepared to deal with even more challenging clown scenarios.

This unique workshop is specifically for experienced performers who take fun, play and stupidity very, very seriously. Attendees will be able to work alongside performers of the same level while exploring a range of advanced techniques and improvisation scenarios.

De Castro’s structured approach focuses specifically on the areas that are most challenging for the professional performer. By focusing on imagination, playfulness and the pleasure to be present, every section of the workshop has real practical lessons that can be applied to the clown’s existing performances and help structure the development of new ones. Filled with a mix of exercises, advanced techniques and improvisation scenarios, it’s an opportunity to train and play with performers of the same level.

It is a challenging, enjoyable and rewarding week of work for those who put their all into being seriously silly.

‘A teacher, a Master Clown, who is very delicate – who respects the performer in front of her and takes care to take you on the best path, so you do not expose yourself unnecessarily… A director who helps performers build and deliver their scenes with confidence.’ 

MICHELLE SILVEIRA (CLOWN / EDITOR ‘WOMEN CLOWNS’ MAGAZINE)

Led by Angela de Castro
Monday 27th – Tuesday 28th January 2025 / 9am- 5.30pm / £220
To request an application form, email: whynotinstitute@aol.com

To hear about future dates please sign up to our newsletter here.

When we allow the clown to think, it is amazing what they come up with!

For silent and speaking clowns looking to develop their practise, this workshop focuses on maintaining the state of clown by training the mechanism of the clown’s thoughts.
Through games and exercises, this workshop gives you techniques to maintain the clown’s inner monologue, giving the clown space to think.

Audiences love to follow clowns’ thoughts; to see clowns thinking and finding amazing solutions and answers to everyday life. But how often do our own thoughts come faster than the clown’s? Our thoughts intrude and interrupt the clown’s voice.
Workshop participants will be challenged not to let their own thoughts interrupt or come before the clown’s thoughts. In a series of games and exercises participants will deconstruct the mechanism of thoughts, create space for their clown to think, and fill their mind with the clown’s loud voice, leaving no space for other thoughts.

Often harder than anticipated, maintaining the clown’s inner monologue allows us to develop a true clown’s intelligence!

This workshop isolates the mechanism of the clown’s thoughts:
A training in how to maintain the state of clown
It is harder than we think
Participants need to be clowns
Our own intelligence to problem solving is faster that the clown’s own intelligence. Very difficult not to let our own thought to come first that the clown’s thoughts.
How useful this kind of workshop can be for those who wants to explore silent clowning as well as for those who perform with text.
How beautiful is to allow your clown to think
Audiences like to follow clown thoughts, to see clowns thinking and find solutions
The text of silent clown shows is the line of thoughts. That allows you not to ‘drop’ from the clown state.

Wednesday 29th to Friday 31st January 2025 | 9am to 6pm | £300

Led by Suzie Ferguson

For clowns, actors, dancers and performers interested in making playful and meaningful connections in health and social care settings.

This 3 day workshop will be a wonderful journey into the therapeutic clown world, where freedom, play and compassion form the cornerstones of good practice.
We will explore how the 5 principles of therapeutic clowning – simplicity, generosity, lightness, honesty and joy – can be harnessed to create meaningful and reciprocal connections that can transform experiences of adversity into ones filled with laughter and joy.

We will work as a group, in duos and individually, using practical games and exercises that can be easily applied to healthcare settings as a frame for our learning.

WORKSHOP THEMES:

Five elements of clowning
Power of attention
Presence and sensitivity
Emotional honesty and embodiment
The Game

Suzie Fergunson has 13 years experience of clowning in paediatric hospitals, hospices and SEN schools as well as in Dementia Care settings. She was a co-creator and performer in Curious Shoes, a theatre performance for people living with dementia and their carers, and MESS, a clown musical for young people with complex needs. Suzie is the former Artistic Director of Hearts and Minds, Scotland’s therapeutic clown charity, and she has taught her own workshop in Scotland, Denmark, Latvia, Bangalore and most recently Ukraine.
She is a Board member of Red Noses International.
Suzie is also a Why Not Institute alumni. A real WhyNotter!

To register your interest and/or request an application form, email whynotinstitute@aol.com

So, you’ve done some clowning!  You’ve learnt to play with an audience, stay optimistic and look for games…. but how do you make a show?

In this week long intensive workshop we will playfully explore the principles of devising with clown and comedy in a safe but challenging environment. Whether a solo show, double act or larger cast, this workshop will give any performer or director, the tools to make a very stupid piece of theatre.

Through exercises and games, theatre maker and director, Stephen Sobal, will reinforce the foundations of clowning whilst working with each participant to create something from nothing.

The best way to see if something works it to put it in front of an audience. Therefore the workshop will conclude with a sharing with an invited audience.

de Castro will be collaborating alongside Stephen Sobal in directing, editing and refining material for the end of week presentation.

Saturday 11th January 2025 / 2pm-5pm / £35
To register your interest and/or request an application form, email whynotinstitute@aol.com

In the beginning there was Play
… and Play is everything!

Play is at the heart of clowning. For performers, actors and clowns it is important to keep the state of playfulness fresh and alive, to feed the soul and keep it light.

It is fundamental for clowns to exercise the mind, the body and the spirit. The spirit is often overtaken by the physical and intellectual demands of the job. Very often, it is the clown techniques that get the focus. However, what is a clown without a soul? Without a spirit?  How important it is not to forget that our souls need as much training and feeding as our bodies and minds?

Using simple games and light exercises, ‘The Pleasure of Playing’ will liberate the imagination and brings participants a new burst of energy, focus and awareness. Based on collective non-competitive games, this structured and surprisingly thought-provoking workshop became a must for clowns of all disciplines.

WHO LAUGHS . . . LAST  ! 

Based on the laughing yoga method, Laughing Matters is not a workshop. It is a laughing session.
When we laugh we release endorphins – your body’s natural well-being hormone.
The session is safe, fun, easy to do, stress free and you will leave feeling great! Just come along.

Inspired by breathing techniques, developed in Yoga to assist in relaxation, the mental and physical benefits of laughter are immediate and easy to achieve, regardless of age, fitness levels or ability.

Laughter is an essential tool in building confidence, removing cynicism and increasing enthusiasm. Not only that, it is also very good for your health and dramatically reduces stress by naturally releasing endorphins.

To hear about future dates please sign up to our newsletter here.

The Why Not Cafe is a free get-together that takes place over Zoom, first we have some fun, and then we have some time to chat.        It’s open to WhyNotters, old and new, and anyone interested in joining in on the fun!
Each time we have a different offering, from The Why Not Bingo, The Why Not Quiz, A Zoom Clown Gameshow or sometimes premieres of our videos such our production HUGS and the opportunity to share what we’ve all been up to and videos we’ve made.

The Why Not Café is excited to present it’s new series, In Conversations With… where Angela de Castro – Founder and Director of The Why Not Institute will be talking with artists, clowns and friends
Our inaugural chat in June 2021, de Castro  talked with Holly Stoppit and Franki Anderson.
The event was Live streamed via The Why Not Institute Facebook page.

Thr full chat can be  found on The Why Not Institute You Tube Page –