Clare Bartholomew works as a professional theatre maker, performer and director with a number of groups including Clown Ensemble, The Business and an improvisation troupe called Five Square Metres.

She works as a Clown Doctor at The Royal Children’s Hospital and has been a member of Melbourne Playback Theatre Company for 10 years where she acts, conducts and teaches regularly for the company.

Clare was a recipient of the Moosehead Comedy Award and performed her show One Man’s Business at The Melbourne Comedy Festival, which won The Foreign Exchange Award. She was also nominated for a Green Room Award for female performance. The show was then invited to The Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, to perform as part of their Fringe Festival season.

The Business recently toured The Concert (which was nominated for a “Barry Award” and won The British Council Oz Export Award at the Melbourne Comedy Festival) to The Assembly Rooms for The Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2003, Salamanca Theatre, Hobart and the Festival of New Zealand Theatre in 2004. This year they are touring regionally whilst developing a new show. Clare also teaches clown, physical performance and comedy at VUT as well as independently and is the performance trainer at the Women's Circus.

This workshop will take the form of an introduction to the ‘silliness’ involved in being a clown. Being vulnerable, open, the ability to communicate well and a willingness to take risks. are all attributes of a good clown. The participants will develop a ‘character’ and enjoy discovering how such a character engages their audience.