What would happen if five clowns enter a library?
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00:00Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers, and lovely to speak
00:08this morning to a group of clowns, a group of second year theatre students at the University
00:14of Chichester, who are heading to the Chichester Fringe on Wednesday, June the 11th, Chichester
00:19City Arts Centre, with, well, it's an appealingly titled show, isn't it? Shhh, obey. So, lovely
00:26to speak to you, Oliver, from left to right, Oliver, no, Bertie, Oliver, Claire and Summer.
00:32Bertie, set the scene then, what is Shhh, obey about? Shhh, obey is about a bunch of clowns
00:41in a library, what could go wrong, I hear people say, a lot, a lot is going to get wrong.
00:50These are not well-behaved clowns then, are they?
00:52No, no, in a space which is known for really strict rules, for, well, strict ways of behaving,
01:03um, these clowns are, are here to, to break those rules and to push the boundaries of the
01:10space, um, to push the boundaries of what happens in an library, um, and to have fun, um, to be
01:18playful with each other, to explore their friendships with each other, um, their enemies with each
01:25other, um, and just to really, yeah, have a bit of fun in, in a space which I don't believe
01:33I have a lot of fun in a library. I usually go and sit in a library writing essays, which
01:37I don't find very fun, um, but yeah.
01:41Fantastic, and to bring in Oliver then, you are Together Quiet Chaos, tell me how you came
01:46together as Quiet Chaos, and what Quiet Chaos exists to do.
01:50Um, we came together as Quiet Chaos, like, during university, um, well, as we were in university,
01:58and, um, from our clowning module, and, what's it called, we created a 30-minute piece, um,
02:05and that piece got first, and we're very happy with that, and then our lecturers, uh, suggested
02:10that we take us to the fringe, and that's what we did, and we're very proud of that.
02:14Um, Quiet Chaos is a very playful group, I'd say, and we just absolutely love each other,
02:23like, I think we work very well, like, and there's an idea, no one shuts it down, like,
02:29we work with everything that we have, and I think we work very well together, personally.
02:35And Summer, perhaps you could tell me what the attraction of clowning is, why do you, as
02:40a performer, love the concept of clowning, and what does it mean to you?
02:46Um, I think, for me, it's like, uh, a complete push outside of, like, any comfort zone, um,
02:56and I think that's why I love it so much, because it's so playful, and fun, and it's so rewarding,
03:02but it's also so vulnerable, and I think that's sort of the appeal of it.
03:08Absolutely, and the vulnerability is the fact that the jokes, as you say, could land, might
03:14not land, you don't know, until you do them.
03:18And Summer, you were saying, I'm sorry, Claire, you were saying a lovely thing just now, but
03:23this, taking the show from the university to the Chichester Fringe, for you all, potentially,
03:29is the start of you pursuing a dream.
03:32Where do you hope this is going to go when you've done this at the Fringe, Claire?
03:36Well, we don't really know what the future holds for us, but we can only hope that our
03:42clowns keep playing with each other, and we just keep having fun with our clowns, and
03:47just keep pushing each other to just be the best performers we can be, and as long as we're
03:53growing and learning whilst we're doing this, I think we're going to keep doing it.
03:57Yeah.
03:57Fantastic.
03:58Well, lovely to speak to you all.
04:00Good luck with it all.
04:01It sounds brilliant.
04:02It's Shobay.
04:03It's Wednesday, June the 11th, Chichester City Arts Centre.
04:07Chichester City Arts Centre.
04:09It's Quiet Chaos from the University of Chichester.
04:12Good luck.
04:12Great to speak to you.
04:15Thank you so much.