Nick Wong has an idea for an ensemble theater group. An evening of one acts. Chekhov. Clowns. Physical comedy meets classical theater, shakes its hand good and hard and stirs things up.
As the actor and dancer explains, “There are certain moments in a story that sometimes need to be told in a different form.” Not that Nick Wong is a stranger to the complexities and lyricism of language. A member of Butterfield 8 Theatre Company and long-time resident of Antioch Classical Theatre Company (ACTC) Wong has performed in several Shakespeare productions. For Butterfield 8, Wong recently performed in “Cymbeline,” an adaptation in a 1940s film noir movie set. But here's the fun little twist: the actors played actors putting on a movie.
A resident of Antioch, Wong owes much of his training and exposure to ideas to his high school teacher, Sean O'Neil, artistic director of ACTC, whose theater pairs high school and college students with equity actors. O'Neil studied theater in Chicago with a professor who went on to establish Chicago's 500 Clown, the professional, boundary-pushing group of clown artists whose adaptions of classical works transform traditional plays. “This,” he says, “is what theater should be," of his experience upon seeing the troupe perform.
Considering himself minimalist, Wong loves simplicity in art and the abstract quality born from such simplicity. A strong Influence in his life: clowns. He values the honesty inherent in what they do. Growing up, he admired Charlie Chaplin and Red Skelton. Bringing his own life-long athleticism and clowning interests, Wong wants to start a physical dance theater company that pays tribute to the legacies like Chaplin and Skelton, as well as Twyla Tharp and Swedish choreographer Mats Ek, whose emotional piece “Smoke” wowed Wong to this mimimalist comment: “I was seeing good art.”
The competitive energy of an athlete is something Wong fiercely applies to all artistic endeavors. While he considers himself to be “artistically jumping all over the place,” it seems much more the integrity of an honest artist, willing only to contribute his absolute best to a current project. Like the influential 500 Clown, which strives to take risks and views theater as a spectator sport, Wong's athletic outlook can perhaps be applied to his artistic pursuits to create some highly charged theater.
Wong is now ready to put together his own group, one of like-minded truthful artists – actors, clowns, musicians – who, together, will tell stories as honestly as they can. He envisions a group that will serve and inspire the community with truthful adaptations, spawning uniqueness not from any high-falutin' ego, but from the purity of love of the art. Along with the Chekhov adaptations, Wong also has other ideas brewing. One of which constitutes the video medium. Having several friends with film school backgrounds and connections, Wong says, “They have a camera and know how to use it, I've got artists interested...” The sentence finishes itself. So let's go!
Still looking for a studio space in which to perform, Wong is not discouraged. There awaits a whole world waiting to be filled with the ideas and creative movements of his ensemble company. Filming on location in public spaces can supply a wealth of opportunities to make use of the environment in relation to the particular pieces.
Long-time goals include touring college campuses, performing and giving workshops to students, echoing a similar service that Wong's Antioch roots with ACTC supplied for him, the chance for students to engage alongside professionals.
The name for the group? It derives from two sources: an homage to those early comedians who inspired him, as well as a tribute to the clown characters that Wong has often played in Shakespeare productions. The Drowsy Madcap.
If you're interested in joining the group, you may contact Nick Wong at (925) 757-8137 or at dreadfulgrindtheatre@gmail.com.
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