Philippe Gaulier - Reportagem
Philippe Gaulier - Reportagem
Philippe Gaulier - Reportagem
I N T E R N A T I O N A L Ph i l i ppe Ga u l i e r
1943:
Born in Paris, France
1965-67:
Studied at the Theatre
National Populaire before
moving to the Ecole
Internationale de Theatre
Jacques Lecoq in Paris.
1960s:
Worked as a clown and
bouffon.
1971:
Became Lecoq’s assistant
and taught at the school.
1980:
Left the Lecoq school and
founded Ecole Philippe
Gaulier in an atelier in the
17th arrondissement, Paris.
1991:
Invited by Arts Council
England to move the school to
the UK.
2002:
Moved to Montreuil, France.
2005:
Set up school in Sceaux,
south of Paris.
2007:
Published The Tormentor
(Le Gegeneur), a book of his
thoughts and exercises on the
business.
2011:
Moved to Etampes.
I
n a comfortable hall just off a sleepy square in a small always want to come back to show what they’ve learned. We and a bouffon is a subject close to Gaulier’s heart. “The clown
town south of Paris, the final touches are being put to don’t take teachers from other places. They’re boring and don’t imitates an adult to make us believe now he is an adult. He
Philippe Gaulier’s expanded acting school. It’s busy in understand the spirit of what’s going on here.” is like a child, he imitates in order to say, ‘Daddy look at me
the new admin office – the architect has arrived to give His own experience has given him insight into that idea of now that I am an actor’. But he has no opinion about being
things a last once-over, the phone rings to announce a passing on the flame. “I was at Jacques Lecoq’s school before an actor. The bouffon imitates in order to say this person is
last-minute tranche of money towards the refit, then and I was not that bad a teacher later. So after I started my a piece of shit. To imitate Jean-Marie Le Pen, to say this one
happy tidings of a new Gaulier grandchild. Professional and own school, it seems I am still not that bad – so they come.” is a horrible person. So the bouffon is intelligent, he parodies
personal partner Michiko Miyazaki-Gaulier fights with the key Gaulier was born in Paris in 1943 – “when it was full of to denounce the horrible fascist people. The clown does not
to the new front door, while there’s the clatter of coffee cups Germans” – and went straight into theatre after leaving school. understand what he is. He looks like what he does. The bouffon
as the students mill about on a break. “I left my family and I went to theatre school, the Theatre is like Goya’s Black Paintings. Totally different.”
Gaulier stands in the middle of all it, visibly proud of this National Populaire. We had good teachers: Gerard Philippe, Britain got the chance to discover the Gaulier style close-
new space for his Ecole Philippe Gaulier. “The school started Alain Cuny. It was a good time.” He then went to train with up when he spent the whole of the 1990s in London after
here five years ago and we had to do the administration on Jacques Lecoq, staying on to teach at his Ecole Internationale Arts Council England invited him over for what was originally
the stairs and put the costumes on the stage. So Michiko and de Theatre Jacques Lecoq for a decade. planned to be just one year. He moved from Highbury to Ken-
I earned a bit of money, paf! We bought the neighbours, and Leaving Lecoq in 1980, Gaulier set up his own school in tish Town and then Cricklewood. After returning to France,
now we have a dressing room and an administration office.” Paris, building his courses around ‘le Jeu’ or the ‘Game’. he ended up in Etampes, which is to Paris as, say, Woking is
Where did the cash come from? “Money comes from us, “We discover the ‘complicite’, we start to be friends, like to London.
from the school. It’s our money and we are proud of that. We when we play games like cowboys and Indians when we were With all those changing spaces, has Gaulier kept the same
never received a subsidy here and we have never asked for one kids.” And, as Red Bastard and Dr Brown attest, Gaulier is structure of courses? “No. Here in Etampes we have two rooms
kopek from the French government. We can say ‘fuck you’. And also big on clown and bouffon, a dual nature that he developed to work in. When I was in Cricklewood we had a sort of church,
a free school is always happy to say ‘fuck you’.” himself as a performer – “I was a clown for 10 years – I did a a fantastic open room of about 450 square metres, almost all
It’s an attitude that helps to explain a man whose school lot of clown shows”. And the difference between being a clown our present building. But with one room, it’s not easy because
has created a quiet revolution in UK theatre since the 1980s, we had two or three classes. So, for example, the movement
with former students including Emma Thompson, the founder teacher would work with one group, I would come after as he
members of Complicite – Simon McBurney, Annabel Arden ‘Everybody thinks it’s good moved to the next group, so it all went faster.”
and Marcello Magni – Cal McCrystal, Sacha Baron Cohen, As for method, did Gaulier take a lot of Lecoq with him?
Helena Bonham Carter, Told by an Idiot’s John Wright and
to be good. I tell students “No, no. It’s not the same at all. When I was a teacher at
Roberto Benigni. More recent alumni include Red Bastard (aka you are allowed to be bad. Lecoq I didn’t practise what he did. On some points I was okay
Eric Davis), Dr Brown (Phil Burgers) and Trygve Wakenshaw. but on many I wasn’t, and that sometimes got Lecoq pissed
The school also has a strong sense of family, as Gaulier
It’s good to be bad. Everybody off. But I did not want to accept his style, I did not like it. So
points out: “All our teachers were students at the school. They was bad at some time’ after 10 years there I said, ‘I’m going to do my own school,’
FE B R UARY 2 5 2 01 6 39
photos: Ecole Philippe Gaulier
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