|
Fools Theatre : Txi Whizz and Ross Barrett
FOOLS THEATRE is an
international performing troupe, touring since 1973, primarily in Europe,
Great Britain, Canada and the United States. Today's ensemble features
European stage clown Barbara Txi Hannah and musician Ross Barrett.
 Founder
of Fools Theatre, Barbara Txi (pronounced "chi") Hannah, also known
as Txi Whizz, first came to live theatre from a visual side - lighting,
set designing, building masks and props for the New York Shakespeare Festival
and the Spanish/English Duo Theater. Txi studied movement and masks at
Dell'Arte School of Physical Comedy; art at Emily Carr Institute of Art
and Design; clown with Django Edwards; dance with Canadian modern dancer
Barbara Bourget and with Berkeley's Harupin Ha butoh dance company; vocal
technique with Ralph Cole of the Nylons; creative processes in theatre
with Eugenio Barba of Odin Theatre; and bouffon with Massimo Agostinelli.
She worked with Jane
Stein to create several sets of masks and headpieces for the original Broadway
production of Jesus Christ Superstar, and later went to Great Britain,
spending ten years between London, Cambridge and Liverpool. She built shadow
puppets for the Little Angel Marionette Theatre and performed three years
with director Ken Campbell and the Science Fiction Theatre of Liverpool.
Txi's visual characters and puppets have been seen and performed all over
the world. Since 1983, Txi has been an important part of Wavy Gravy's Camp
Winnarainbow as a performer, teacher and director.
 Ross
Barrett has a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of British
Columbia. He plays saxophone, flute, piccolo, and keyboards. Ross has
a vast musical repertoire and is comfortable in many styles. He scores
for films, composes for theatre, plays solo and with bands, and inspires
other performers whenever he plays.
Ross performed with
Gerardo Avila at the Vancouver Storytelling Festival and in Chiapas, Mexico,
toured Saskatchewan with Kaleidoscope Theatre's Rudyard Kipling Stories,
scored and performed a two hour performance piece with Snake in the Grass
Moving Theatre for opening festivities at the Museum of Man in Hull, Quebec,
co-scored and performed FALSE CREEK: A VISUAL SYMPHONY at Expo '86 with
England's Welfare State International, and continues as Musical Director
of Vancouver's Carnival Band, a twenty person street orchestra that plays
community events, rallies and demonstrations.
Ross Barrett and Txi
Whizz have been performing partners for nearly twenty years and have developed
an exciting rapport with North American audiences.
 |
 |
|
Barbara
Txi Hannah (Txi Whizz) and her clown characters! |
|
