The Clown Un_Masked – Matt Mitler

I have been aware of Matt Mitler’s work for many years but only recently had the pleasure of seeing him perform both with his company Dzieci and as a solo artist.

I photographed his solo performance work at the NY Downtown Clown Revue this past March.

Here is Matt as his character

‘Little Hymie’

The education and working experience of a performer is usually indicative of where they will go with their own work.

Matt Mitler has had a broad base of influences that have shaped his work both for his company and solo work.

Initially trained in Humanistic and Existential Psychology,

before discovering the healing potential of theatre, he considers his therapeutic study with such masters as R.D. Laing and Carl Rogers to be equal to his theatrical study with Jerzy Grotowski and Eugenio Barba.

Grotowski’s work was very ‘cutting edge’ and one of his premises for going to that edge was:

” focus on the very root of the act of theatre: actors co-creating the event of theatre with its spectators.”

He couldn’t compete with the technology of film and made his mark with what theatre had that film didn’t have.

A live relationship with the audience. Matt uses that principal for his company work.

Theatre Group Dzieci (djyeh-chee) an international experimental theatre ensemble (founded in NYC, 1997) dedicated to a search for the “sacred” through the medium of theatre.

It is a serious undertaking!

Using techniques garnered from his theatre masters Jerzy Grotowski, Eugenio Barba, ritual forms derived from Native American and Eastern spiritual disciplines, and an ethic based securely in his work in Humanistic Psychology,

Dzieci aims to create a theatre that is as equally engaged with personal transformation as it is with public presentation.Towards this aim, the ensemble balances its work on performance with work of service, through creative and therapeutic interaction in hospitals and a variety of institutional settings. Dzieci believes helping others generates a profound healing effect that not only serves the patient but also strengthens the ensemble’s work.

The word ‘Dzieci’ is the Polish word for Children.

Matt performed some wonderful solo pieces that I was fortunate enough to photograph. Here are few more images from his evening at The New York Downtown Clown Revue.