Biography
Sarah Woolfenden and Afa Simpson have been training in clown together since 2016.
Over the last 8 years they have been discovering and practicing their shared pleasure in the bridges between ritual theatre, clowning and sound making.
They revel in the absurd and the ridiculous, finding serendipity through a shared silent language which expands into sound.
Through the years they have become skilled in adapting together to audience exchange and with this new project they are challenging their capacity to improvise and create material on the spot.
Both Sarah and Afa are multidisciplinary artists in their own lives and weave their crafts together to create a multidimensional experience spanning the visual, aural and physical through the use of costume, music and space.
Below you can find out more about their artistic backgrounds.
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ABOUT SARAH
I was born and have lived in London for most of my life. I am a clown, musician (trumpet and voice) and a visual artist (ceramic sculpture and print).
My clowning began in 1998 when I invited people, some dressed as woodland animals, to a ritual performance entitled ‘An Angelic Union with Nature’ in which I married a tree on Hampstead Heath. I have woven clowning into my performance practice since then.
Since 2016 I have been developing, training and performing in clown.I have received training with key figures in the current clown scene such as Lucy Hopkins, Phil Burgers, Holly Stoppit, Dan Lees, Julia Masli and Zuma Puma.
Recent performances include ‘It’s Happening’ a night of Clown Poetry with Julia Masli and Paulina Lenoir 2025, The London Clown Festival 2024, Brighton Fringe Festival 2024, Fool’s Moon Cabaret at Soho Theatre 2023, Glastonbury Festival and Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2022.
both as a solo performer, duo, ensemble and as part of the clown bands ‘Hear We Ahh’ and 'The Flop’.
'The funniest, most honest angel clown in town. As well as an incredible trumpet player and musician' (@FoolsMoonCabaret).
As a professional musician I have twenty years’ experience in creating, performing and recording music, including carnival street music, gypsy folk & jazz, contemporary classical and experimental improvisation. My soundscapes and compositions have been heard at The London Jazz Festival; O2 Shepherds Bush Empire; Supernormal; End of the Road; WOW Festival Southbank Centre; The Vortex; The 100 Club; Iklectik; Cafe Oto; Resonance FM and on BBC Radio 6.
ABOUT AFA
Afa is a multi-disciplinary artist and facilitator. Exploring clowning, visual arts, film, music, costume, poetry and forms beyond genre as avenues to relish the ridiculous and meander the mundane into magic.
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Afa is a clown and performance artist, creating both live and filmed pieces which dive into the world of the grotesque and the surreal, exploring play and curiosity to bring alchemical transformation.
Afa founded Fool Heart, facilitating workshops which explore Clown and Fool as an art-form of expression and liberation. Surrendering to play and curiosity as portals through which we can welcome the ridiculous to honour the intricate and monumental experience of what it is to be alive on this earth.
As a poet Afa vomits out the turbulent tides of her insides in an attempt to understand "what the fuck is going on?"
Afa is also developing and performing a one-woman show 'Dada Yaga' based on the slavic folk-lore of Baba Yaga using bouffon, clown and puppetry.
Afa grew up in Kenya and has been part of theatre from a young age. Her parents started a community theatre and Afa grew up in the rehearsal room.
Moving to England at 18 to pursue training in performing arts Afa became part of the National Youth Theatre and then went on to study Drama and Theatre Arts at Goldsmiths University. She then discovered clown and the deal was sealed and since beginning training with Zuma Puma she has gone on to train with Lucy Hopkins, Julia Masli, Robyn Hambrook and Mick Barnfather among others.
Afa is currently in the second year of her masters studying Transpersonal Arts Therapy.
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Selected clients
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