AN ITINERANT FESTIVAL OF FOOLS

The Ship of Fools proposes a popular feast that lasts as long as she stays in town. Apart from her comedies she proposes other theatrical manifestations of high symbolical value. That starts with the Disastrous Arrival, where the ship enters port with improbable manoeuvres – weighing a wooden anchor! Then she holds a Jolly Press Conference on Board as an open invitation to the public and press and an extravagant Parade of Fools to the city centre. The Fools pay a Theatrical Visit to High Dignitaries, mostly to the Town Hall, for an exceptional and ceremonial reception in which small gifts and jolly sermons are exchanged – and sometimes a calligraphic ‘Welcome Letter’. This gives lieu to a Toast of Honour and in the best of cases, to a Solemn Banquet. The crew pays a Theatrical Visit to Institutions for a meeting and a simple, shared meal in a psychiatrical or penitentiary centre, a hospital, home for the elderly, school, factory or other such. The public is received on board for a Theatrical Visit of the Ship, a sequence of sketches on seven different locations: the Garden, Pent House, Wheel House, Engine Room, Dressing Room, Clandestine’s Cabin and the Big Artist’s Hull. The funfair finishes with the Sad Departure of the Ship, dramatic, because nobody knows if the ship will ever return!

THE BRIDGE HEAD

The bridge head is a festival ground that includes the ship as stage and back drop, a seating platform for up to 250 persons, a blue bus, a radio station, a tea house and a Garden of Delights, with rarities, laughing mirrors and a Bestiary of fantastic animals and hobby horses. The crew provides Fool’s Courses and Court Feasts. This place serves as a temporary meeting point. as a county fair for the Arts, for shows, expositions and feasts in which local artists of all disciplines are stimulated to participate or perform.