Nomadic's 'Running Into Walls' Plays at Brick Theater

On September 13, 14 & 16, Portland's Nomadic Theatre Co brings its hilarious and poignant character-driven clown show 'Running Into Walls' to the Brick Theater for the New York Clown Theatre Festival. In it, physical comedy, trombone medleys, pantomime ninja fighting, bonsai cultivation, and flamenco come together in one raucous story whose hapless heroines tackle these difficult questions.

When one of them dies and comes back as a ghost, two friends need to leave their home and embark on an epic journey to find the right spot to scatter her ashes. While they travel, they remain, as clowns must, aware of their actual physical surroundings. The dynamic tension of existing simultaneously in the theatre and atop a far-off mountain makes for extreme, reality-bending hilarity. Acclaimed as "funny," "poignant," and "giggle-snort-guffaw inventive," this show is recommended for adults and kids ages 7 and up. "Running Into Walls" is an original theatrical clown show created by the performers, Heather Pearl and Sarah Liane Foster, and the director, Michael O'Neill.

Artist bios
Heather Pearl graduated from San Francisco State University with a BA in Inter-disciplinary Arts, and later from the Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre. In San Francisco, Pearl performed with Clown Conspiracy, Women Walking Tall, Make*A*Circus, The SF Women's Circus, and the Prescott Clowns, and was instrumental in starting the Funny Bone Doctor program through Make*A*Circus. After graduating from Dell'Arte, Heather performed with the Dell'Arte Players, and spent four years as a company member of Do Jump! Extremely Physical Theatre. Heather founded the Nomadic Theatre Co with Michael O'Neill in 2002, and has created and performed in six original productions with the company. She will forever be grateful for meeting the red nose 16 years ago.

Sarah Liane Foster, a graduate of the Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre and Brown University, has studied clown with Avner the Eccentric & Julie Goell, Ronlin Foreman, Moshe Cohen and Giovanni Fusetti. She loves creating, teaching and performing theatre, and has done so across the United States and internationally. Since 2002, she has been working for Windsor Mountain, and experiential education-based camp, leading and planning theatre and community service travel programs around the world. In 2004 Sarah began teaching and performing with Heather and the Nomadic Theatre Co in Portland, Oregon, and has since created five shows with Nomadic. Besides spreading laughter around the world, she enjoys waffle makers, stepping on dry leaves, and umbrellas.

Michael O'Neill received his BA in Theatre from Castleton State College and was subsequently accepted into the world-renowned Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College. Upon graduation Michael was chosen to tour with the Greatest Show on Earth, with which he toured for three years. Following his stint with Ringling Bros., Michael attended the Dell 'Arte International School of Physical Theater in Blue Lake, California. He then spend three years performing shows around the United States with Tears of Joy. Most recently Michael has spent time creating, directing, and performing original works across Europe, North America and Asia. He is the co-founder of the Nomadic Theatre Co in Portland, Oregon. In 2007 Michael was accepted to The University of Portland Master in Fine Arts program in Directing, and is projected to graduate in the winter of 2009/2010.

For more information please visit www.bricktheater.com