CV - Reg Bolton - Biographical Highlights to 2005

[JoBolton]

REG BOLTON
Reginald Ernest Bolton 13/11/45 – 14/7/06


BIOGRAPHICAL HIGHLIGHTS to 2005


UNIVERSITY
 
B.A. Hons. English and European Literature (Warwick)

Certificate in Primary Education (Bristol)

 PhD - Why Circus Works

 

THEATRE
 
1969-71 Manager and Technical Director, Lindsay Kemp Mime Company
 
1971-74 Director of Theatre Workshop Edinburgh, producing 10 original plays for children
 
1970-90 Stage Director for Annie Stainer, international solo mime/dancer
 
1974-83 Co-director, Long Green Theatre Company, touring world-wide with plays for children
 
1974 Guest Director, Theatre of Youth, Buffalo, New York
 
1980-81 Director of 'Outreach' TIE Company, Clwyd, Wales
 
1982-97 Over 600 performances in 4 countries of Solo Circus Theatre-in-education show,
'SAWDUST SUPERSTARS'
 
1987 Played lead in 'ARCHANIANS' Festival of Perth
 
1987 Wrote and directed 'GULLIVER', Perth
 
1988 Wrote and performed 'REG BOLTON'S OLD TIME TENT SHOW' new touring TIE
 
  show, for rural and remote schools
 
1989-90 Circus Director for "BARNUM" WA Theatre Company
 
1985-91 Tutor and Director of 17 student Theatre-in-Education productions at the WA Academy
 
  Edith Cowan University, including Australia’s first show addressing AIDS
 
1991-92             Wrote and directed community Plays - 'Jack and the Circus' and ‘Gulliver Goes South’
 
1994-99 Wrote and directed numerous shows and concerts for schools, including YMCA Circus School
 

 
INTERNATIONAL FESTIVALS
 
1972 Holstebro, Denmark, English Group Theatre Seminar
 
1973 Oslo, Norway, Children's Theatre Congress
 
1975 Hamburg, Germany, World Festival of Children's Theatre. Washington DC, USA
 
  Children's Theatre Conference San Juan Festival, Puerto Rico Edinburgh Festival
 
  Fringe Belfast Festival
 
1976 Edmonton Canadian Children's Theatre Festival
 
1977 Festival of Fools, Amsterdam International Festivals of Mimes, Wrocslaw, Poland
 
  Experimental Theatre Festival, Palermo, Sicily Salzburg Festival, Austria
 
1978 Bern Festival of Small Theatres, Switzerland
 
1979 Hamburg Street Theatre Festival International Children's Theatre Festival

1980 Jerusalem Festival, Israel
 
1982 Singapore Festival
 
1983 Festivals of Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Perth
 
1985-93 Festival of Perth
 
1993 International Circus Arts Festival, Wuquiao, China
 
  Plus numerous tours of Britain, America and Europe
 

 
COMMUNITY ARTS
 
1968 Co-ordinator of 'Free School' Community Arts Centre Totterdown, Bristol
 
1970-74 Director of Theatre Workshop Edinburgh
 
  * a multi-arts centre for children aged 5-18
 
  * pioneered street theatre in Scotland
 
  * organised first community arts training for
 
  * Play-schemes, neighbourhood centres etc
 
1979-80 Arts Co-ordinator, Craigmillar Festival Society, Edinburgh, with a team of 25 artists, in
a community or 25,000 people
 
1981-82 Director of Salisbury Arts Centre, England
 
1983-98 Free-lance Community Arts Consultant
 
1988-90 Community Arts Development Officer, West Australian Department for the Arts
 
1990 Director of 'Karmakanics Carnival' Artrage Festival, and the Karmakademy.
 
1990-99 Extension of Community Arts principles in other contexts - schools, commerce, sports etc        
 

 
TEACHING
 
1972-84 Primary teacher, St Mary's School, London E17
 
  Lecturer in Drama, Moray House College of Education, Edinburgh
 
  Lecturer in Circus and Street Theatre, Edinburgh Drama College
 
  Artist-in-Residences, Dept of Leisure and Recreation, University of
 
  California, San Jose
 
  Artist in residence, Hauppauge Schools District NY
 
  Circus training sessions for Northern Arts, NW, SW Arts, SE Wales
 
  Arts, SE Arts and ACGB
 
1985-99 Lecturer in Street Theatre and Circus Arts, West Australian Academy
 
  of Performing Arts, Edith Cowan University and at Curtin University
 
1985-90  Consultant to WA Ministry of Education
 
1991-00 Tutor in Circus and Clowning. UWA Summer School
 
1993 Pioneered literacy/juggling programme at Padbury High School
 
1985-00 Established 20 youth circus programmes in WA schools
 
1996-97 Director of YMCA Circus School, Perth
 

 
CIRCUS
              
Winner of Gold Cup (professional) at Clowns of America Inc., Annual Clown Picnic 1975
 
  Study at the Ecole Nationale du Cirque, Paris 1977
 
  Founder/Director of the Scottish Summer Circus School
 
  Trainer of the Craigmillar Children's Circus, and 25 others in UK, USA,
 
  and Australia
 
  Director of Britain's first Community Circus Festival,
 
  * Manchester, 1980
 
  * and Scotland's first, Edinburgh, 1981
 
  * special guest at Australia's first, Brisbane 1983
 
  * director of West Australia's first, Perth 1987
 
  Co-ordinator and presenter of award-winning 'Suitcase Circus International'
 
  with members of 12 different youth circuses, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 1984
 
  Director of Denmark Clowns Convention, WA, 1992
 
                
 
  Writer and performer of 'SAWDUST SUPERSTARS' solo Theatre in
 
  Education show, presented in UK, USA and Australia, 1982-00. Seen by over
 
  300 schools in WA.
 
  
 
  The sequel - 'REG BOLTON'S OLD TIME TENT SHOW', toured throughout
 
  Western Australian 1989
 
  Circus Trainer and Arranger for 'BARNUM', Produced by the West Australian
 
  Theatre company, 1990
 
  Delivered paper on Circus Training at Circus Summit, Melbourne 1990
 
  
 
1993 Representing Australia, Awarded Textile Industry Trophy at Wuqioa Chinese
 
  Acrobatic Festival for original CLOWN ACT  
 
1995-99 Circus Project Director for the Woodford Folk Festival, Queensland, and WA
 
  Folk Festivals
 
1996-97 Director of YMCA Circus School, Perth, and National Circus consultant for the YMCA.
 
1999 Guest Speaker on ‘Training’ Head to Head Conference, Melbourne
 
2000 Circus Project Director, Port Fairy Folk Festival, Victoria      
 

 
TELEVISION AND FILM·      

  Numerous features including
 
  *  (UK) Swapshop, no. 73,  Talkabout, Live from 2, Not For Women Only
 
  *  (Australia) Wombat, 7.30 Report, Kids Inc., Wide World of Sport.
 
  *  Circus Consultant Clown Act Director and performer in "CLOWNING AROUND" - 4hr
   TV Series BARRON FILMS 1991 and "CLOWNING AROUND 2", 1992
 
  * Directed video "GORILLAS IN THE DUST", with the children of the Central Desert  
   Communities, Njantjanjarra lands.
 
  * Features for GWN Saturday Club
 

 

 
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
          
  International Jugglers Association
 
  International Unicycle Federation
 
  Hon. President of National Association of Youth  Circus, U.K.
 
  Clown Association of Western Australia
 
  Acting Chair, Australian Circus and Physical Theatre Association
 
  Actors Equity (UK)
 
  Signatory to the International Social Circus Charter
 

 
AWARDS
 
1976 Scottish Arts Council Bursary to study Children's Theatre in the USA
 
1983 Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Grant for world-wide research into
 
  'NEW CIRCUS'
 
1983 Arts Council of Great Britain Community Arts Bursary
 
1984 Winston Churchill fellowship for 6 weeks' study of Circus Education in the USA
 
1986 Australia Council grant to study New Circus Around Australia
 
1990 Performing Arts Board grant to research Neo-Circus techniques
 
2000 WA PREMIER’S BOOK AWARD ($5,000) for “SHOWTIME!”      
 

 
MAJOR CONSULTANCIES
 
1984 Edinburgh International Festival
 
1984 Gerry Cottle's British Circus School and Youth  Circus
 
1985 Vancouver Bicentennial Committee
 
1985 Murray River Performing-Feasibility Study for an Australian School of
 
  Acrobatics and Performance
 
1988 Australian Bicentennial Commission
 
1985-92 West Australian Ministry of Education, initiating several specific Circus Programmes in Schools
 
1990-91 WA Dept of Corrective Services. Longmore Juvenile Detention Centre
1992  3rd Denmark Clown Convention
1992 'YOUTHFEST' - Premier's Dept. WA
1996 YMCA's of Brisbane, Sydney, Victoria and Canberra  
1998 City of Perth - Street Entertainment Policy Taskforce
2001 Elleboog Children’s Circus, Amsterdam

 

PUBLICATIONS AND PAPERS
 
1983 'CIRCUS IN A SUITCASE' a practical manual. New York
 
1987 'NEW CIRCUS' a world survey. LONDON Occasional journal 'SUITCASE
 
  CIRCUS NEWS'
 
1988 Videos 'CIRCUS SKILLS' and 'SCHOOL CIRCUS'
 
1992 Video 'SAFE CIRCUS'
 
1995-98 Regular columnist for ‘Laugh-Makers’ USA and ‘Pro-Circus’, Australia
 
1996-04 Occasional contributor to ‘SPECTACLE’
 
1998 ‘SHOWTIME’ best selling Children’s Book, (Premier’s Book Award, 2000)
 
1999 Paper on ‘Circus as Education’ in Australasian Drama Studies        
 
2001 Keynote Speaker, Festival of American Youth Circus Organisation, Sarasota,
 
  Florida. Theme: “CIRCUS TO SAVE THE WORLD”
 
2002 ‘INTENSITY IN TENT CITY’. Leeds University, England        
 
2003 Keynote Speaker, International Clowns Symposium, Weston super Mare, England
 
  ‘CLOWN ABUSE’.
 
2003 Article: ‘The Philosopher on the Flying T-ze’. Discourse, San Francisco.
 
2003 ‘THE WISDOM OF CLOWNS’                                  
 

 
RESIDENCES
 
Artist-in-the-Community in various towns and shires in Western Australia, including Narrogin, Kalamunda Kwinana, Wanneroo, Belmont, Bridgetown, Albany

 

OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Members of 'University Challenge' team, Warwick University

New World Record for JUGGLING, running the West Australian

Marathon, 1987, juggling 3 balls continuously in 3 hrs, 45 mins, 50 secs

Theatre critic 'The Australian' (Flying Karamazov Bros. March 91)

Married Annie Stainer, famous Dancer and Film maker, and Principal of Total Theatre School

 

CURRENT EMPLOYMENT
 
Free-lance writer, performer, director and consultant.

Owner of THE CIRCUS SHOP. www.circusshop.net

2001 Commenced studies for PhD on “Social Circus” at School of English and Comparative Literature, Murdoch University, Perth, Australia.   Due for completion, August 2004.

PhD 'Why Circus Works' has been completed.

[Toby Juggler]

What an impressive c.v. Reg had!

I can't see direct mention of the Summer Circus Schools in 1977 and 1978 - in Edinburgh (for groups of international adult students, before all those circus schools opened  :wink: ) which I worked on, and where I met Reg (a force of nature).

I also participated in the Craigmillar project in 1979 (which is listed).

I'd love to hear back from any of the participants. I have no archive of the period, either pictures or diaries, and the only graduate of 1978 I know of is Marceline, who worked as the Tarmacadam Madams (later The Deep Sea Sisters), last heard of working out of Barcelona as part of Los Excentricos.

[CW]

I couldn't find anything on Wikipedia on Reg (beyond a mention in the article on Craigmillar), so I've started an entry.

[Jenni(fer) Dudley]

Hello Jo - you called for more information and I am happy to oblige by filling in a couple of holes in Reg's CV.
The first is about "where I first met Reg as opposed to hearing about a Community Arts legend - as he was perceived to be in "the Eastern States" where I lived and worked as an artist.
The lovely rich mixture of professional activity we see in Reg's CV is familiar to many an artist and performer, but what it hides is the hard work and nouse required to keep the show on the road.
I first met Reg at an Indonesian cultural futurists conference at Pak Abas Alisjabana's centre near Penelokan in Bali - I think it was in June 1990.
I attended with Pam Zeplin from Adelaide - and I was armed with my new video camera.
Reg graced the Balinese, the conference members and my camera with his performative prowess - a clown falling over his feet while sharing the stage with a tiny Balinese legong dancer!
It was just great - and believe me the cultural barriers sure fell away fast!!!!!!!!
I also witnessed one of his tirades against Arts Administrators, highly justified in this case, as they hijacked the Conference session on funding in a context where this was rarely received from state sources.
Pam and I were both there with minimum outside support, and apart from the rudeness of these Aussies abroad, sympathised with Reg's comments. We all felt there were better ways to approach this complex issue; theirs was not only meaningless to many present but said nothing for the models they were supposed to be promoting.
How different to the performance.
The second time I encountered - or narrowly missed crossing paths with Reg - was as curator of an exhibition of Aboriginal art from the AP Lands in SA, part of Australia Today in Jakarta in 1994.
I'm pretty sure Suitcase Circus was performing at Pondok Indah - and I'm pretty sure Reg must have been there.
Why?
Jo's remarks at the funeral about Reg's cupboard raiding in the name of muesli creation rang a bell. I think he was crushing up the bikkies most mornings in the common room before the rest of us arrived for our daily briefings!
I never got to Pondok Indah to verify his rumoured presence because a neo-nazi incident in East Berlin led to the non-arrival of my artists. The community wouldn't let the young ones come for the second half of their
show - which did go on, nevertheless, but with only the whitefella curator in situ who could speak to the work but not for the artists.
And I appreciated Jo's slide show on Sunday, but reckon one or two of them were from that time. I recognised a friend's child in one of them.
Howdy Aldo if you are reading this!

Reg was a great connector in so many ways - so much so, that at first, I didn't believe the mail bomb sent around Murdoch informing us of his death.
I thought we would all go to the funeral and Hey Presto! - Reg would appear, back from the dead.
But from the enormous crowd present, I would say that his spirit will live on forever and that the funeral was simply his last earthly performance.
It should also be in his CV.

Please feel free to post this under "Stories about Reg if you wish!"

[Colin Christensen]

Jo

I recall Reg telling me about some trip/s to Asia in remote and disadvantaged communities carrying out similar work as in remote Oz. In fact my wife last night reminded me that a year or two ago he kept me waiting on a response from his message machine while he was so engaged. If it's buried in his website it's pretty deep.

Are there some missing bits to his story?

ciao
Colin Christensen

[JoBolton]

Colin,

Yeah you're right, there are lots of gaps on that CV at the moment. The one I posted is basically 'highlights' that Reg put on his site a year or so ago.

I figure I'll keep compiling anyone elses recollections here & also keep my own notes for a while.

Eventually i guess i'll put some sort of timeline of his projects together.

One day...

Cheers

Jo

[Roger Daventry]

From 1984 through to 1990 Reg worked with Roger Daventry on the development of "Clown Theatre".  The foundation concept came from Germany and Roger's interaction with social innovator Eberhard Schnelle.
The theatre employs a narrator plus the three clowns representing the parts of the psyche: The Super Ego as Ringmaster, The Ego as Pierrot or intelligent middle manager and the Id as Auguste the innovator or scallywag.  In Australia we created theatres for a Funeral Director, South West Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Bunnings Hardware, Greenhouse '88, Water Resources Council, 7.30 Report (unshown) and other interactions with private corporations.  Reg created a team with Murray Dowsett and Sanjeve Margio with Roger as narrator.  Some wonderful experiences were had by all who participated and some stunning insights unfolded.