Colonial Circus: The ringmasters explain their “comedy show with questions”
Our show Colonial Circus is an immersive comedy ride with two Bouffons* who dance, sing and talk gibberish, until you get it. It’s part bizarre, part captivating, and a whole lot firecracker of a tummy-tickling comedy show –as if Alejandro Jodorowsky crafted this seriously funny absurdity!
A starter-pack to ‘A Brief History of Colonization’, this is a show that takes the dreadful subject of colonization head-on, with a sense of play and wink. So please . . . and gain permission to chuckle while scratching the historical scabs of colonization, with the hope of healing together with laughter. You’ll laugh, you’ll gasp . . . you’ll hurt!
Freshly written and devised by Sachin Sharma and Shreya Parashar (us), who are two Toronto-based BIPOC artists, Colonial Circus pulls no punches. Described as ‘A Neo-Bouffon’ show, Colonial Circus will have many moments of guaranteed guttural laughter . . . and some where you will squirm in your seat, asking questions like “Did I just laugh at that?!”.
Themes of the annihilation of language, religion, and culture are peppered throughout the hour-long show — without any fourth wall. After all, comedy is the mirror image of tragedy, brewed over time.
Did you know?
*Bouffon comes from the Latin verb: buffare, to puff (to fill the cheeks with air). The word “Buffo” was used in the Theatre of ancient Rome by those who appeared on the stage with puffed cheeks. And when they received blows, they would make a great noise, causing the audience to laugh.
Who we are
Shreya and Sachin are no strangers to Toronto’s Comedy Scene. This duo also co-founded Hinprov: The Bilingual Improv Community in Canada (with hits like Improvised Bollywood Shows). Shreya wanted to use satire to navigate through the horrors of colonization. “The creative idea came to us when we were experimenting with the artform of Bouffon: The Performance Art of Mockery. We wanted to have a ridiculous play on historical atrocities, wrapped in physical comedy. Colonial Babies were born as a result,” Shreya quips.
“Finding beauty in gore, comedy in tragedy, and dancing to the melody of war sirens, we found our absurd rhythm as these characters. As artists, we are deeply influenced by the phantasmagorical movies of Alejandro Jodorowsky.”
Why step right up to see Colonial Circus
Colonial Circus brings a fresh perspective to the comedy landscape with its BIPOC-led creative team that will make you laugh and gasp, almost simultaneously. Sachin adds, “We came to this city (Toronto) 4 years ago from India, and we were itching to present an Eastern narrative of colonization, as our own lived experience. Throughout the show, we tread through the palpable discomfort of our history with the bravado of clowns.”
Colonial Circus takes you on a journey to experience anecdotes from the creator’ lives. “My grandfather used to tell us an allegory of this particular villager who returned from a big city and was ex tremely thirsty,” Shreya recalls. “No one offered him any water, and he ultimately died of thirst, yet there was water in abundance, all around him. His colonial hangover made him ask for “water” in “English”, a language he had picked up in the city and which no one in the village understood.” So language killed him!
Who else is involved?
The show is directed by Isaac Kessler. With vast training in Clown, Mask, Idiot Work, Bouffon, and LeCoq-based Physical Theatre, he has been performing, devising, writing, directing, and producing comedic theatre for over 18 years. He was nominated for Best Male Improviser at the 2015 Canadian Comedy Awards and holds three more CCA nominations as one half of the award-winning ClownProv juggernaut 2-Man No-Show, alongside his comedic soulmate Ken Hall. His solo show 1-Man No-Show won the Artists’ Pick Award at the Edmonton International Fringe Festival, 2022.
Show times
Colonial Circus will be performed at Theatre Passe Muraille Main Space. The show debuts Friday, July 5, 2024 2:00 p.m. at Theatre Passe Muraille Main Space, with seven shows as a part of the Toronto Fringe Festival running July 3 – 14, 2024. Visit fringetoronto.com for show times and tickets.
© Sachin Sharma and Shreya Parashar, SesayArts Magazine, 2024
