CORNER BROOK, N.L. — When Meaghan Collins goes out to explore West Street at night this weekend, she’ll be doing it through the eyes of a child — a young clown by the name of Trixie.
Collins will bring Trixie to life Saturday to take in all that Corner Brook’s CB Nuit after dark arts festival has to offer.
“It’s a little bit of a different one,” said Collins of her clown, who has never ventured very far, but has heard about the festival.
Originally from Moncton, N.B. Collins came to Corner Brook in September 2012 to study theatre at Grenfell Campus. She graduated in 2016 and moved to Halifax for about 10 months before returning to the city about two and half years ago.
Trixie was born during Collins' third year at Grenfell in a master class in the Pochinko, or baby style of clown that was taught by Louise Gauthier, the creative director and committee chair of CB Nuit. The class took the students through the process of developing their character, instilling clown rules and how to tackle this different type of theatre.
Trixie has the vibes of a toddler or early school-age child. She’s kind of bubbly and a little bit bouncy.
She doesn’t necessarily try to be funny, but she is.
She tries not to get frustrated, but sometimes does. When things go wrong or she gets lost, she gets a little grumpy.
She has an adult side about her, too, and can flip more into that experience if and when needed.
Taking care of the audience is a clown rule. She can’t be reckless and scare the audience or make them feel unsafe.
Trixie has been dormant for a while. Collins didn’t have plans to bring her back, yet always hoped she would.
CB Nuit is providing that opportunity.
Collins has learned a lot more about balancing Trixie's innocence and curiosity for new experiences as she revisits her in preparation for CB Nuit.
She’s also been thinking more about where Trixie comes from.
Trixie is artistic, likes to doodle and draw and to explore.
These are things that Collins actually doesn’t do herself.
“It’s so weird to think about," she said. "She’s a character, but she’s not like a character that I would perform in any other show. She’s so much a part of me, but she’s her own being.
“She has some of my insecurities and some of my nerves and fear. She has to have that, too, because she is a part of me.”
Bringing Trixie back and digging deeper into her character has been fun for Collins. Trixie has existed only in the safe confines of her basement and the rehearsal hall at Grenfell. Collins wonders what it will be like when she goes out into the real world.
The plan is for Trixie to wander the festival and, because she’s known for getting lost, there’s no telling where or what she’ll get in to.
“I think she’s going to be kind of awestruck and a little bit mesmerized by all the different art pieces and the artists,” said Collins.
She expects her clown will be starstruck when she sees the circus performers with Alley ’Oop Productions.
CBNuit is not just a growth experience for Trixie. It will be for Collins as a performer, creator and artist, too.
She wants to see how other artists balance art and theatre while holding down a full-time day job or how they make the leap into being a full-time artist.
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Twitter: WS_DianeCrocker
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