Red-nosed fantasies of the future: a framework for social justice-informed performance creation in the Mump and Smoot Lineage of the Pochinko tradition of clowning

Abstract

This article contextualises a specific lineage of the Pochinko tradition of clowning – which the author refers to as the Mump and Smoot Lineage – before offering an analysis of Judith Butler’s argument for the necessity of fantasy in social change. Putting these two analyses into dialogue, the article offers provocations and theories as to how clowning might provide a fruitful avenue for social justice-motivated fantasy as it is described by Judith Butler. The paper asks and offers responses to two central questions. Firstly, how might understanding clowning’s relationship to social justice pursuits be of use to those creating clown performances? Secondly, how can the practice and craft of the Mump and Smoot Lineage of the Pochinko Tradition of Cowning (MSLPTC) work in service of social justice aims? The author argues that the methodologies of this lineage do not require great alterations to work in meaningful service of social justice aims; the use of a message to the world, the focus on imaginative embodiment, and many of the lineage’s rules are easily deployed in service of social justice-oriented creation. In making these assertions, the author articulates a hope for further research into clowning and its intersections with social justice practice and also that clown practitioners might use their existing practices to further social justice goals.

Keywords:

• social justice
• clown
• Mump and Smoot
• Pochinko
• theatre
• creation

Acknowledgements

I owe thanks to Michael Kennard who supervised the directed study in which this paper was first written.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 For a more detailed exploration of Pochinko’s connections and disconnections from Indigenous culture and performance traditions see Norris et al. 2020.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Charlie Peters

Charlie Peters (ze/hir/hirs) is a lifelong resident of Treaty 6 territory. Hir artistic work has been seen on stages (and in parks, fields, school gyms, living rooms, and swimming pools) across the Western half of Turtle Island. Ze holds a BFA in Acting (University of Saskatchewan) and an MFA in Theatre Practice (University of Alberta), trained extensively at the Manitoulin Conservatory for Creation and Performance, and is currently finishing an MA in Gender and Social Justice at the University of Alberta. Ze has been published in Canadian Theatre Review, Theatre Research in Canada, Howlround, and The Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia. www.charliepeters.ca