Bouffon with Peter Sweet | 7-12 July, 2025

This boundless style of grotesque comedy empowers you to create dangerously funny satire about the world that we live in. As socially unacceptable as they are hilarious, Bouffons take great pleasure at mocking the things we humans hold most dear.

They live on the fringes, observing all of the ridiculous games that we play with keen eyes. They don’t care what society thinks of them, so they are free to act out everything that they see with fierce honesty. In this way they turn a mirror on the audience, exposing us to the aspects of our own behavior that most of us would much prefer to avoid.

Skills Covered:

Improvising as a “Band” of Bouffons:

• Flocking / Moving together as a chorus

• Shape shifting together as Bouffons

Unlocking your unique Bouffon:

• Discovering how your Bouffon moves, breathes and speaks.

• Masking the body - using body modification to create the grotesque form of your “Bouffon”

Imitating the world:

• Shape shifting into everything from politicians to bus drivers to house-plants.

• Imitating the world: Creating every “where” you can think of with your Band of Bouffons from the European Parlement to the Serengeti.

Dramaturgy of Bouffon:

• Spiral Madness! How to amplify themes into a dizzying, fractal plot structure.

Writing with Bouffons:

• How to use topical research to fuel improvisation

Finding your voice:

• Letting your Bouffon say the things you want to say but normally “can’t”.

In the first days of the workshop you will learn the core skills that you will need to create material in this style of comedy. Beginning with moving together as a “chorus”, you will then learn to shape shift together into objects, people and places. With this foundation you will improvise as a group, playing games as children do that eventually merge into imitating human behavior (as children also do!).

Fueled by the collective madness of the group, you will enter higher and higher states of play. This activation of the group in play brings out forms in the bodies of each individual. You will learn how to use foam and other materials to amplify that form and create the grotesque body of your Bouffon.

In the final stage of the work you will choose a theme from the world and create a piece of wild, irreverent satire with your band of Bouffons!

About the teacher:

Before embarking on what has become 25 years (and counting!) of performing, directing and teaching physical theater, Peter Sweet graduated with highest honors from the University of California, Santa Cruz, with a bachelors degree in sociology. Theater and sociology both study the rules and rituals that govern human behavior, but from very different perspectives. When Peter encountered “Bouffon” at the Helikos School for Theater Creation in 2012, he saw those two perspectives collide. In the Bouffon work Peter found a vital, powerful way to bring his life-long passion for Sociology and the study of human behavior directly into the service of his artistic voice. He further developed his understanding of this connection through the creation of his current touring theater production with Leonie Baker, “Foolish Doom”, which uses fantasy and object puppetry to satirize the human reaction to the climate crisis.

Peter Sweet’s approach to Bouffon combines the madness of play with the rigor of technique. He teaches the most effective tools that he has used in his 20+ years of performing and directing grotesque comedy, clown, physical theatre, and circus. His unique approach has been further enriched by his experience as a teacher of the Alexander Technique, Wutao breath-work, and a wide range of somatic and martial arts.

Professionally, Peter has worked as a performer, teacher and director of physical theater and contemporary circus since 2000. His solo and duo shows: Meet Pete Sweet (Clown developed with Avner "The Eccentric" Eisenberg), Swinging High (directed by Giovanni Fusetti), BOOM! (Co-created by Matteo Destro) and Foolish Doom (directed by Matteo Destro) have toured in over 20 countries. Peter served as the director of performance in the circus department at Die Etage Berlin for 4 years. He is a thesis advisor and coach at Fonty’s Netherlands masters program in choreography and has been a guest teacher at the Stockholm University of Dance and Circus, Zurich University of the Arts and the Bayerische Theaterakademie August Everding in Munich.

Peter studied physical theatre at the Helikos International School of Theatre Creation in Florence, contemporary and classical dance at the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance in Salzburg and circus at Ecole du Cirque Zofy in Sion (CH). He is a certified teacher of both the Alexander Technique and Wutao, a French movement art based on breath and undulation.

Peter is currently based in Berlin (DE), where he directs professional companies, teaches workshops and creates new works of inspired madness. In his free time he reads, practices Chinese internal martial arts, plays the drums, and watches Muppet show re-runs.

Workshop Logistics:

Language: English

The workshop will be taught in English. A basic understanding of this language is required for participation. The teacher also speaks German, French and Indonesian and can offer translation in moments when it is needed.

Class Size: Max 15

You will be working in a small group of maximum 15 students. Once 15 students have been confirmed, the workshop is full and additional applicants will be added to the waiting list.

Attendance: Full Time

Because the pedagogy is progressive and because you will be relying on each other in the group, attending the full class time every day is required for participation in this workshop.

Tuition: Sliding Scale 285 - 650 Euro

In order to make this workshop accessible to people with a range of economic means, we are offering this workshop at a sliding scale. 

Apply here: https://forms.gle/ViaCQGkFtkH865bVA

Once Peter has reviewed your application, he will contact you to let you know if there is an open spot for you in the workshop.

Payment:

Once you have registered for the workshop, your workshop fees are due within 5 days, to confirm your participation and save your spot. Please note that your fee includes a 115 Euro non-refundable deposit (except in the case of cancellation of the workshop due to force majeure). If it would be helpful for you to pay in installments, let us know and we can set up a payment plan. 

Questions about applications, registration and logistics?

Please contact the organizer in chief Lokke Worm: clownworkshop-leipzig@posteo.de

Questions about the content of the course?

Please contact Peter Sweet : info@petersweet.com

Find out more about Peter Sweet's work as a teacher, director and performer on his website: www.petersweet.com