Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Assistant Professor, School of Performing Arts and Music
2
Associate Professor, School of Performing Arts and Music, College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran
3
Associate Professor, School of Performing Arts and Music, College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Iran
4
lecturer, School of Performing Arts and Music, College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Iran
5
M.A of Theatre, School of Performing Arts and Music, College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Every character type may change as time goes by, based on the social conditions which make him different
and sometimes opposite of what it used to be. The clown of the Iranian traditional plays –Siyâh- in Siâh Bâzi
and Mobârak in Kheyme Shab Bâzi (The Iranian marionette play)- have been funny and instructive. Different
types of their characteristics can be sorted out in 4 groups: Physical characteristics, moral and behavioral
characteristics, confrontation with the holders of the upper hands, and finally and making others aware and
conscious. But this character type has undergone some general changes as an Iranian dramatic element, to the
extent that its study requires a sample pattern. This pattern can demonstrate the course in which this character
type has been changed. The changing ‘Ayyâr Character group to Luti and after that to Lumpin can be regarded
as an appropriate pattern for the study of this changing character, which is influenced by the social conditions.
In this changing course a character with good function and traits who is helper for people (‘Ayyâr) make to
a character with negative functions and traits in society (Lumpin). According to this sample course a kind of
changed clown is designed and introduced which shares some characteristics and functions of the traditional
clown, but in a revere direction. Therefore he is referred to as a “reverse clown” in this article. In This changed
clown frankness converts to giving orders, rebelliousness converts to rudeness, and mockery converts to insult
and contempt. In the study of the tradition clown, we notice a confrontation between the clown as slave and a
representative of the lower class with the master as a representative of the higher class. However, with respect
to the reverse clown, this confrontation sometimes changes, and the master humiliates the lower class people.
This changed kind can be noticed in the play The magnificent smile of Mr. Gil by Akbar Radi, in which
Davud Gil is introduced as a reverse Clown. He has clownish characteristics in an inverted direction, like
giving ridiculous names to others but he is distinctively a reverse clown against Tuti, the house maid, who
belongs to the lower class of the society. Davud is a hunter and gambler who considers Tuti as his property,
and believes that he can sacrifice her for the good health of his father Mr. Gil. Just like the court jester who
makes the king happy and entertained, Davud as a reverse clown offers Tuti for Mr. Gil’s satisfaction; an
action which leads to her destruction. As a reverse clown, Davud has two character sides. He is a happy clown
on one hand, who mocks everybody, and on the other hand, he is a hopeless and self-destructive person. After
his father’s death, he shows his brutal character against Tuti, and leads her to her suicide. This self-destruction
also shows his inverted trait in comparison with the clown in traditional theatre, who awakens the conscious
of the society, and is therefore an effective and useful character. Generally, the characteristics and functions
of this reverse clown in comparison with the traditional clown can be classified in 8 cases: ridiculous naming,
giving orders like the master, humiliating sarcasms, rudeness, buffoonish, self- admiration, making happy
with scarifying the other and self-destruction.
Keywords