OPERA CLOWN

Clown · Live Music · Cultural Heritage · Inclusive Performance
Spain · Finland · USA · 2017–2018

Opera Clown is a small-scale inclusive opera created as a tribute to Marcelino Orbés Casanovas (Jaca, 1873 – New York, 1927), one of the most celebrated clowns of his generation.

The work explores laughter as a lucid response to existential paradox, using the figure of Marcelino as an allegory for the tension between comedy and tragedy. It brings together clown, live music, circus and street performance in a flexible format designed for different spaces and audiences.

Developed across Spain, Finland and the United States, Opera Clown brought together professional artists and participants with diverse cultural, social and lived experiences, including neurodivergent people and young people with limited access to cultural opportunities.

The project was designed around accessibility, equity, representation and artistic agency, with particular attention to reducing barriers to participation and creating multiple ways of engaging in the creative process.

Through social circus, music, costume-making, carpentry and collective performance, participants could contribute according to their interests, strengths and access needs, making diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility part of the artistic methodology itself.

Link www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUshWk7q3Wc

Role
Project Initiator · Artistic Director · Clown — Pablo Alvarez

Artistic Team
Band Director: Javier Pérez Raso
Choir Director: Laura Lisi
Assistant Choir Director: Carlos Purroy

Participants
Sonería · Coro Arkadia / Fundación Serrate · Comparsa de Cabezudos de Graus · Banda Municipal de Música de Graus

Credits
Produced by: Marino Clown Company
Experimental Film Director: Marcos Ronsano
Script: Pablo Alvarez · Marcos Ronsano
Photography: María Mateo
Promo Video: Pablo Fountain
Giant Head Sculpture: Pedro Larraz

Support
Espacio Pirineos · Fundación Serrate · Graus, Spain

2018
European Year of Cultural Heritage — Selected Project
Spain