Philippe Gaulier | |
|---|---|
 Gaulier in 2005 | |
| Born | (1943-03-04)4 March 1943 Paris,German-occupied France |
| Died | 9 February 2026(2026-02-09) (aged 82) |
| Occupation |
|
| Years active | 1965–2023 |
| Organization | École Philippe Gaulier |
| Spouse | Michiko Miyazaki Gaulier |
| Website | ecolephilippegaulier |
Philippe Gaulier (French pronunciation:[filipgolje]; 4 March 1943 – 9 February 2026) was a French professor of theatre, drama theorist,pedagogue and masterclown. He was the founder ofÉcole Philippe Gaulier, a French theatre school inÉtampes, outside Paris. After studying underJean Vilar andAlain Cuny atThéâtre National Populaire and then underJacques Lecoq, Gaulier was an instructor atL'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq. Known for his "legendarily terrifying teaching style,"[1] he publishedThe Tormentor (Le Gégèneur), a book discussing his thoughts on the theatre and containing exercises designed to develop an actor's skill. Gaulier had a significant influence on theBritish theatre, where his teaching inspired the creation of numerous theatre companies including theThéâtre de Complicité, as well as theatre companies throughoutEurope,Australia, andNew Zealand.[2][3][4] Gaulier was known for performing in both clown andbouffon comic genres, in addition to his work as a playwright and director.[1]
Emma Thompson,Sacha Baron Cohen,Helena Bonham Carter,Roberto Benigni,Rachel Weisz,Simon McBurney,Geoffrey Rush,Kathryn Hunter,Yolande Moreau,Viggo Venn, andMathew Baynton number among his students. Baron Cohen has particularly praised him for "help[ing him] understand how to be funny",[5] and in 2001 stated that he was "probably the funniest man I have ever met".[6]
Gaulier was born inoccupied Paris on 4 March 1943[7] to a doctor, his father, and a Spanish mother. He called his father "abourgeois idiot", and described himself as "the rebel" of his family.[1] He grew up near a circus. At 8 years old he was kicked out of school for punching his gymnastics teacher; he stated that he did not regret this as the instructor made students march as though they were in the army. Gaulier studied underJean Vilar andAlain Cuny as a member of theThéâtre National Populaire.[8] He had an ambition to be a tragic actor, but said he was laughed at every time he attempted to do serious work in drama school. He then began a class withJacques Lecoq who trained him in clowning, improvisation, and mask work.[5]
Throughout the 1970's, Gaulier had a famous clown act with Pierre Byland, which they performed extensively in Paris at theOdéon Théâtre de l'Europe and toured internationally.[9] One clown show in particular,Les Assiettes, in which Gaulier and Byland broke 200 plates every night became a legendary hit in Paris.[9][5] Gaulier directed the show in collaboration withRoger Blin, director of the original productions ofWaiting for Godot andEndgame bySamuel Beckett.[10]
During the 1970's, Gaulier taught alongside Lecoq atL'École Internationale de théâtre Jacques Lecoq, where he disagreed with Lecoq's pedagogy and teaching style. In 1980, this rift led Gaulier to open his own school, École Philippe Gaulier, in Paris. When asked about pedagogical differences with Lecoq, Gaulier responded, "I did not want to accept his style, I did not like it. So after 10 years there I said, 'I'm going to do my own school.' If you see my students, you’ll also see they have so many different styles that you can’t say they come from Philippe Gaulier's school. I am happy with that. I don't give a style to my students. I want to give freedom, not my style."[11]
| École Philippe Gaulier | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
 | |
3 Rue Auguste Petit, 91150Étampes Paris | |
| Coordinates | 48°26′01″N2°09′29″E / 48.43366°N 2.157967°E /48.43366; 2.157967 |
| Information | |
| Established | 1980 |
| Founder | Philippe Gaulier |
In 1980, Gaulier opened École Philippe Gaulier,[5] in Paris.[1] In 1991,Arts Council of England invited Gaulier to move the École Philippe Gaulier to London, in the neighborhood ofCricklewood, in the United Kingdom,[1] where it was based for eleven years until 2002.[7] Sacha Baron Cohen attended the school around 1996.[1] After Lecoq's death in 1999, Gaulier's reputation grew larger as his school continued to take students.[5]
In 2005, the school reopened back inSceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, until 2011, when it moved again, this time toÉtampes, where it opened in summer 2011. Organized by Small Nose Productions, Gaulier returned to the UK once a year to run workshops at Trestle Arts Base inSt Albans, Herts.[citation needed] At the school Gaulier taught classes in 'le jeu,'clown,bouffon,Shakespeare,Chekhov,Molière,Feydeau,melodrama,mask play, neutral mask,Greek tragedy, characters,Commedia dell'arte, andvaudeville.[12] Gaulier always specified he offered training in theatre and not comedy.[13]
TheBBC showNewsnight covered Gaulier in 2015.[1] In 2015,Rachel Weisz credited her Gaulier training as an influence on her performance in theYorgos Lanthimos filmThe Lobster.[14] That same year,Cal McCrystal reported to the BBC that he, "knew of no greater performance teacher ever".[15] In 2016The Guardian reported that"'Gaulier-trained' [was] abuzzword on many a comic's publicity".[16] The school temporarily closed for theCOVID-19 pandemic, and reopened in autumn 2020 for a delayed 40th anniversary in 2021.[1]The New York Times reported in 2022 that Gaulier's "stature has grown in recent years".[5]
In 2022,Hillary Clinton and daughterChelsea Clinton traveled to Paris and interviewed Gaulier for theirApple TV+ seriesGutsy.[17][5]
As of 2022[update], Gaulier began to teach fewer classes and travel less, having considered retirement,[5] a prospect he said he had no plans for in 2020.[1]
In 2023, Gaulier retired from teaching regularly. Classes at the school are now taught by his assistants, graduates of the school whom he trained.[18]
In Gaulier's view of performance, the performer must feel pleasure to be performing, having "complicité" (the art of being present and connected with your audience or partner). Pillars in Gaulier's teaching are "humanity, complicité, and play". By humanity, Gaulier means "a light delicacy, vulnerability, and an almost childlike openness that reveals our fears and tenderness".[19] His methodology of teaching is designed to allow students to develop their own strengths, following specific principles but no defined method.[6] He did not emphasize technique or physical virtuosity, and suggested these traits in a performer will become boring, unexciting, and disconnecting to an audience.[5] Gaulier much preferred to see students find their complicité on stage through failure, fear, and panic, rather than assured technique.[19] In this sense he tried not to leave his own mark on his students, stating that he "hate[d] the idea of lots of little Gauliers going out into the world". This approach notably differs from that of his teacher, the famous late masterbouffonJacques Lecoq, who is seen by some as a guru of modern movement-based theatre. "You can always tell a Lecoq student", Gaulier stated in 2001. "Too much emphasis on image."[6] Gaulier was much more interested in impulse than movement analysis.[20] However, both Gaulier and Lecoq stressed the importance of a performer's unique, individualistic connection with their audience. To Gaulier the essence of clowning is to "find your idiot."[5] He additionally told his students to wear red noses because, he said, "when a student puts one on, I see better how he was when he was a child".[21] Gaulier was critical of movement-based theatre, saying ofMarcel Marceau, "he's a maniac with his gestures".[22] He was highly critical of different drama theorists includingStanislavski andGrotowsky, writing, "We want to see actors enjoying themselves. We are not interested that you just buried your grandmother."[23]
Gaulier had a "legendarily terrifying teaching style" according to aTelegraph subhead.[1] Utilizing a direct method of communication to his students, he taught via negativa, and is known for his intentionally insulting feedback.[5] Former student John Wright of theatre companyTold by An Idiot has described his teaching as "open-heart surgery withoutanaesthetic". Gaulier said himself that he directly told underperforming students that they should not be actors,[6] giving them a choice between changing or leaving his school.[5]Sacha Baron Cohen described him in 2001 as "brutally honest". but also said that he "was so lacking in pretension that he made acting what it should be, which is fun".[6] AFacebook group called "Philippe Gaulier Hit Me With a Stick" collected instances of these insults, including "You sound like overcooked spaghetti in a pressure cooker" and "You are a very good clown for my grandmother."[5] These insults have been described as being able to dismantle the students'egotism, and as helping to build character.[1]
In 2020, after meeting several of Gaulier's former women students who did not think they were good, Gaulier's former student turned clown teacher Deanna Fleysher wrote that his style did not work for many people, especially those who are marginalised and women, and that it was "macho, abusive,bootcamp-stylesadism befittingfrat houses and old-school military training". Gaulier rejected this later, arguing that his teaching worked equally well with women, that his criticism was "a game between the teacher and the student", and that his classes were still full.[5] Others praised Gaulier's for playing a "demon" character in his classes.Arab Muslim actor Randa Sayed said that in one lesson he told her to "Get off [stage] you Muslimslut"; she said that he did this in recognition of and to externalise the risks and dangers she would face as a Muslim performer, and that she had "never experienced more love from any teacher than Gaulier".[24] He said that "we have to bepolitically correct but I've never been politically correct. I love to say horrible things – I get that from my mother. She was from Spain and the Spanish have a black humor. They say 'fuck you' to many people, the Spanish."[1]
École Philippe Gaulier has educated numerous notable alumni.
Graduates have gone on to receive multipleAcademy Awards,Emmy Awards,Tony Awards,BAFTA Awards,Golden Globe Awards,SAG Awards,European Film Awards,César Awards,Olivier Awards,David di Donatello Awards,AACTA Awards,Lumière Awards,Goya Awards,Magritte Awards,Nastro d'Argento Awards,Molière Awards,Evening Standard Awards,Drama Desk Awards,Obie Awards,Edinburgh Comedy Awards, and theEurope Theatre Prize. As well as top prizes at theCannes Film Festival,Venice Film Festival, and theBerlinale.
Alumni include:
Gaulier was married to Michiko Miyazaki Gaulier, a former student and colleague.[5]
Alain Gheerbrant,Françoise Marthouret, andSacha Baron Cohen penned prefaces to Gaulier's books.[61]
Gaulier died on 9 February 2026, at the age of 82, due to complications from a lung infection.[62]
Zach Galifianakis has stated that Gaulier and his school inspired his TV showBaskets.[5]
Hillary Clinton andChelsea Clinton interviewed Gaulier for the first episode of theirApple TV+ Series,Gutsy. In the episode, Hillary Clinton also participated in a clown class. Videos of Clinton interviewing Gaulier wentviral on social media.[63][64]
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