Jiří Bilbo Reidinger

Biography

Jiří Bilbo Reidinger was born in 1961 in Loučovice. He studied pantomime at the Prague Conservatory (1980-1984) and attended courses given by Ctibor Turba at the Department of Marionette Play of the Academy of Performing Arts (1980-82). In 1986 he took up an internship at the International Marionette Institute in Charleville-Méziéres. For more than twenty years he has devoted to clownery and comedic theatre in general. In 1982 he was engaged by state circuses as Bilbo the clown and went on a year-long tour of Central Asia and Siberia (1983). Since the middle of the 1980s he has worked on a freelance basis and, among other projects, has collaborated on the Divadelní pouť (Theatre Fair, 1984/85) project, with Ctibor Turba and the Alfred theatre on the productions Deklaunizace (Declowning, 1986), Tabarin bar (1987), Dva kamarádi (Two Friends, 1989), Archa bláznů (Ship of Fools, 1989), Giro di vita (1992, 1993, 2000), Talíře (Plates, 1996) and Papír (Paper, 2000). He created the lead role in the Paris production Le peur a de grands yeux (premiered in Paris in 1992 and subsequently toured for two seasons throughout France). He has also guested as an actor and choreographer in bricks-and-mortar theatres; for instance, at the National Theatre in Prague – the role of Jonáš in Bloudění (Descent of the Idol, directed by J. A. Pitínský), the motion role and the role of the Tomcat in The Master and Margarita (directed by O. Meliškina), the role of the Actor and Clown in Hamlet (directed by I. Krobot), the motion role in Firebird (directed by Z. Srba), the role of Lepohlav in Hadrián z Římsů (Hadrian of Rimsy, directed by I. Krobot). At Divadlo Na zábradlí he performed in the productions Létavý lékař (The Flying Doctor, directed by H. Burešová), Divadelník (The Theatre-maker, directed by J. A. Pitínský). Furthermore, he has collaborated with the Theatre in Dlouhá, the Švanda Theatre, Divadlo Na Fidlovačce, with the Municipal Theatre in Brno, the F. X. Šalda Theatre in Liberec and others. From October to November 2006, as Bilbo the clown he accompanied the Cirque nouveau Apolo programme on Střelecký ostrov in Prague. Since 1992 he has been teaching acrobatics and clownery at the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts. He has written numerous articles for magazines and newspapers (Divadelní noviny, Lidové noviny, Salón Práva, SAD). He has also published the books Cirksezóna (Circ-season, 1992) and Burleska téměř excentrická (A Burlesque Almost Eccentric, 1997) and a book for children about the travels of the Chauve circus and the family of Bilbo clowns (Baobab publishing house). Since the 1990s he has presented his productions under the heading Bilbo compagnie, in which he has mostly played with his wife Sylvie Krobová, jointly giving performance for both children and adults; for example, Dva kamarádi (Two Friends), Klaun Bilbo, Déboucher/Antikódy, Baron Prášil (Baron Munchhausen), Smrt komedie (Death of Comedy) and the chanson cabaret L´Ombre/Stín.