By KIRSTEN BOLTON
FOR ARTSPRING
From Salt Spring’s own renowned clown, movement and performance artist Nayana Fielkov comes Underbelly, taking to the stage as an ArtSpring Presents performance on Friday, Oct. 25.
It is preceded by her three-hour introduction to Clowning workshop on Thursday evening for those in the community aged 16-plus.
This one-woman surrealist physical comedy finds Fielkov confronting a combination of monsters, dismemberment, shower opera, inconceivable truths and a hot date that may be just the recipe needed to shed the past and let it run down the drain. Despite the description, Fielkov assures that the show is for all ages.
With live-feed projection, puppetry, mask, dance and illusion, the show promises to take audiences to the inner realms of the psyche. How do we wash away the monsters inside ourselves? Or must we befriend them, is the question.
Underbelly is the latest creation in a body of work that spans over 20 years of scripted plays, musicals, clowning performances and teachings dedicated to the work of play. This homegrown talent has performed at recognized festivals and venues across the nation with her genre-bending approach to theatre, in what The Georgia Straight calls “immensely charming.”
Fielkov is co-creator of multi-award winning RAGMOP Theatre, Habitats and The Myrtle Sisters. She is an active and founding member of Vancouver’s cherished Dusty Flowerpot Cabaret and been a youth facilitator with The International Children’s Festival.
Fielkov’s $50 workshop on Thursday, Oct. 24 runs 5 to 8 p.m. and is limited to 20 registrants. Participants will develop play and personal presence on stage and in life through a series of experiential awareness-building games to cultivate curiosity and delight in the discovery of the moment.
With the Edmonton Journal’s Liz Nicholls stating, “Underbelly is a chance to see an expert clown at work,” Salt Springers are in for a treat.
Thank you to Mouat’s Home Hardware for sponsoring this performance from within our own community.
Tickets to Underbelly and workshop registration are available online at artspring.ca or at the box office.