DUNCAN CAMERON
Duncan Cameron
Performer, Theatre Maker, UK
Workshops
Duncan has experience in a number of theatrical forms which he is confident to teach in workshops.
He has taught workshops specializing in playful theatre, such as Improv, Clown, Bouffon, Physical movement for the actor, and the art of Play, throughout England and Europe at Universities and international festivals such as Physical Fest.
Having had first hand experience using these styles through creating theatre he has applied his knowledge and training, and is a very competent workshop leader.
He has trained with experienced teachers such as Philippe Gaulier (Ecole) , Norman Taylor (Ecole Jaques Lecoq, Lassad), Micheal Gellman (Second City), John Wright (Why is That so Funny?) Eric Davis (Red Bastard, Bouffon), Aitor Basuri (Spymonkey), Fraser Hooper (Street Performer, Clown), Peta Lily (Dark Clown, Director), and Jesse Buck and Aron DeCasmaker (Cirque du Soleil) among others.
(click here for the full list)
If you are interested in organising a workshop with Duncan please contact him with the proposal
The Art of Play
This is the most popular workshop, as it is a base of all playful performance.
I believe that it can help performers to really understand how to create a relationship with their co performers as well as the audience.
Playful performance refers to any theatre that is inherently based on play between performers or the audience. This can be a set piece or completely improvised, but always has an element of spontinaety that can change the piece slightly or extravagantly between performances.
Genres that typically fit into this example are Clown, Bouffon, Improv and Character, but the theory can be used for any style of theatre and performance. These kinds of theatre are usually "Extra Live", meaning that there is no fourth wall, and the audience can be referred to or become complicit in the show.
In this workshop you will work on: musicality, rhythm, finding the fun, passing the game, major/minor and boring avoidance.
Movement for Performers
Bouffon is a style of satirical and dark theatre that is created from the viewpoint of the "outcasts" of society. These outcasts are those that were sent away, deemed unfit to share our way of life, the life of the "beautiful" people. These creatures are then permitted to crawl their way back to perform a show for the people of society. The Bouffon proceed to mock and defile the views and principals of everyone who sent them away, showing the hypocrisies of their lives.
I offer exploration between medieval and modern bouffon. The differences being Medieval bouffon explores and focuses on the physical aspects of the style, giving performers the tools to be grotesque versions of themselves, a mockery of those around them, and of all things beautiful in the world. This usually includes stuffing the clothes to create interesting body shapes to help the performer play with new bodies.
Modern bouffon is the focus of outcasts in modern day society. Those that don't quite fit into social constructs, and what they have to say about the world around them. These bouffon tend to be slightly more subtle, and love to parody things we notice in everyday life.
In this workshop you will work on: parody, the pleasure to lie, how to be "beautiful", chorus and layered performance
Bouffon
Working with the body is essential training for performers.
It makes you much more aware of yourself, how you move, your timing, how you stand, these are all part of what you bring to the stage, and what makes you unique. Many times in more commercial acting this will be how you are chosen for a job, how you present yourself.
Many people on the stage forget their body, and forget to use it to help them tell their story. Relying too much on words can, in many cases be a hindrance.
Even the most subtle of body work can add life to your words, and make people go from thinking you are a good actor to a great one!
In this workshop you will work on: body placement and awareness, musicality, mime, moving the space, character creation and spacial substance. The focus is on the non verbal aspect of performance, and will give a certain special quality to your performance that audiences will love. For longer workshops we will incorporate text with the movement, finding ways of emphasizing and bringing new life into your words.
Clown
The clown is an idiot with the best intentions.
They have been told the very minimal amount of information for them to complete any task, but believe they are very well equipped to handle anything that comes their way.
Their logic is that of a child, and they are very susceptible to accidents or problems.
The real difficulty of clown work is that it can be very difficult to repeat the same joke twice and it still be funny.
In this workshop we explore the performers pleasure to be on the stage, their inability to understand their failures and how to find the game on the stage. For longer workshops we can work on writing routines.