Teatteri Metamorfoosi
MetaPLATFORM 2026:

THE CLOWN (128h)

(Registrations by the 14th of June or until there are places open)

KEYWORDS

Long Clown Workshop, ending with public presentation, theatre clownery, personal clown, birth of a clown, art of failure, improvisation, directed building of the clown numbers, Clown Matinee.

TO WHOM

The workshop is aimed at performing arts professionals, students or amateurs. 

No previous clowning experience is required, however, previous experience is not penalized.

DESCRIPTION

MetaPLATFORM educational concept continues from what theater workshops usually lead to. Participants have the possibility not only to learn the basics but also to dive deeper into the subject. After the summer intensive start, we will continue to work together in the fall and develop summer’s improv material towards clown numbers and present it for the public in the Clown Matinee, together with The Clown Chorus.

The director of the workshop and the midwife for the clowns is Soile Mäkelä (MA).

OVERVIEW

MetaPLATFORM 2026 will dive into the core of theatre clownery, where the clown is born of the personal ridicule of the actor and where the stories are dealing with all the colours of life, also the dark ones. This long clown project will take the participant to the source of tragicomic humanity, where all the homo sapiensis, year after year, find themselves stupefied in front of the universal miracles of life. This year the clowns are wondering about the strange phenomenon called LOVE.

The process of searching one’s personal clown is not only an individual trip, but always a very intensive group process. The clown does not exist without an audience. In MetaPLATFORM, the group is a test audience and great support for each other during the whole process. 

From the point of view of developing as a clown (and human being), it’s interesting how our own idea of what is ridiculous in us is often very different from how others see us. The clown process is great fun, above all, but it also needs courage! Courage to face your imperfections, accept them, play with them and one day... perhaps love them a bit.

The purpose of the education is not to do therapy sessions with the red nose, but to develop our personal material and transform it to the universal level with acting techniques and meet the audience. 

STRUCTURE 

Summer | Intensive start 

MetaPLATFORM starts with a two weeks intensive workshop during the summer. In the beginning we get to know the group and create a safe place to work together so our comical quality of being dares to be visible. We learn some basic physical theatre skills, research movement qualities of each other, practice to observate and give feedback in a constructive spirit. At the end of the first week everyone will give birth to their personal clown, with the guidance of an experienced midwife and a group of doulas. 

In the second week we will get to know our clowns better by putting them in trouble in various improvisation moments. In the impros we research how the clowns could benefit your personal talents and stories. 

Some tasks might be given for the clowns for the next meeting.

Autumn | performance rehearsal phase

The time between the summer course and the autumn training period does wonders for the clown process! In addition to the joy of reunion, the break allows the technical things learned in the summer to be absorbed in peace and in the autumn they will be a little closer to the spine, and not in the way of the clown.

In the fall, the training concept will move to a more performance-oriented phase. Our goal is to prepare a performance consisting of independent, 1-5-person clown acts. The length of an individual act will be an average of 10 minutes. 

The clown acts will be built on the basis of the improvisational material created during the summer course. The process is performer- and group-oriented, and the course leader is responsible for the direction and weaving of the performance dramaturgy.

At the end of the fall rehearsal period, the clowns will meet the audience and test the functioning of the acts in a warm-hearted Clown Matinee. The matinee program will be built up of performances by the MetaPLATFORM clown acts as well as the music numbers of The Clown Chorus. 

TIMETABLES 2026

Important! Please read through the information and timetables well and check out that you can fully commit to the whole education project.

SUMMER (60h)
Daily working hours are 10-17, including one hour lunch break and a couple of shorter coffee breaks.

Week 29: Mon–Fri 13.–17.7. (30h)

Viikko 30: Mon–Fri  20.7–24.7. (30h)

AUTUMN (68h)

September

Sat–Sun  5.–6.9. (12h)

Sat–Sun 26.–27.9. (12h)

October (44h)

(We will move to the performance venue, Pakilan Nukketeatteritalo)

Sat-Tue 10.–13.10. Rehearsals and run throughs (10-17:00)

Wed 14.10. day off

Thu 15.10. Rehearsals and run throughs (10-17:00)

Fri 16.10. Technical run through with Clown Chorus (10-15:00) and a general rehearsal (15:00–)

Sat 17.10. Preparations for the show (12-15) and The Show at the Clown Matinee (15:00–)

(Estimated duration of the Clown Matinee will be 2-3h including the intermission. 

After the show we will have a feedback session, party among the working group and cleaning)

TEACHER

Soile Mäkelä is a theatre teacher, performer and director, who has worked with masks since 1996. Mäkelä works as a physical theatre teacher and educational planner at Teatteri Metamorfoosi, as well as a guest teacher at other performing arts institutes. In 2019, Mäkelä founded The Clown Choir, which she currently leads with Iika Hartikainen.

Soile graduated from University of the Arts Helsinki, Theatre Academy from department of theatre pedagogy in 2008. She studied physical theatre in France and Italy based on the pedagogy of Jacques Lecoq 1999-2002.  Before that she graduated from Metropolia, Helsinki University of Applied Sciences/ Performing arts as a drama instructor 1999. In addition she has participated in numerous mask and clown workshops around Europe ‘cause she likes to put herself in “trouble” and keep on learning all the time. The most significant teachers and inspirations during her clown trip have been Norman Taylor, Giovanni Fusetti, Mario Gonzalez Pierre Byland and Philippe Gaulier and of course all of Soile's own numerous clown course participants, with whom she has been able to unravel the great mystery of clowning.

In addition to name dropping here is some picture dropping: 

https://www.soilemakela.com/red-nose-the-smallest-mask-in-the-w

LANGUAGE OF THE WORKSHOP

Teaching will be in Finnish, except if some participants do not speak Finnish, then the teacher speaks in Finglish and English.

You can perform in any language you wish, even in silence.

PARTCIPANTS
Min 8

Max 12

VENUE

Workshop venue:

Teatteri Metamorfoosi/ Point Fixe

Suvilahdenkatu 10 a 4th floor

00500 Helsinki, Finland

Map

Performance venue:
Pakilan Nukketeatteritalo
Lepolantie 19
00660 Helsinki
Map

REQUESTS

Education coordinator | teacher

Soile Mäkelä 

soile(at)metamorfoosi.com

W e l c o m e !

(Teatteri Metamorfoosi reserves all the rights for changements.)