Philippe Gaulier

Philippe Gaulier (; 4 March 1943 – 9 February 2026) was a French professor of theatre, dramatic theorist, pedagogue, and master clown. He was the founder of École Philippe Gaulier, a French theatre school in Étampes, outside Paris. After studying under Jean Vilar and Alain Cuny at Théâtre National Populaire and then under Jacques Lecoq, Gaulier was an instructor at L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq. Known for his "legendarily terrifying teaching style", Gaulier was known for performing in both clown and bouffon comic genres, in addition to his work as a playwright and director.

Emma Thompson, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Sally Phillips, Roberto Benigni, Rachel Weisz, Simon McBurney, Geoffrey Rush, Kathryn Hunter, Yolande Moreau, Julia Masli, Viggo Venn, Anthony Wong, and Mathew Baynton numbered among his students. Baron Cohen has particularly praised him for "help[ing him] understand how to be funny", to a doctor, his father, and a Spanish mother. He grew up at 16 Rue de la Croix-Faubin, near a circus and opposite the former Petite Roquette prison, where stones in the pavement marked the site of the guillotine. His father, a general practitioner, told his children that looking at the stones "would be good" so that "they will not be idiots" and "will follow the rules of the society." Gaulier called his father "a bourgeois idiot" and described himself as "the rebel" of his family, He had an ambition to be a tragic actor, but said he was laughed at every time he attempted to do serious work in drama school. He then began a class with Jacques Lecoq who trained him in clowning, improvisation, and mask work. Gaulier recalled that the Parisian theatre world at the time was preoccupied with the philosophy of Bertolt Brecht: "Us, we wanted to do the best idiot show in the world."

École Philippe Gaulier In 1980, Gaulier opened École Philippe Gaulier, In 1991, Arts Council of England invited Gaulier to move the École Philippe Gaulier to London, in the neighborhood of Cricklewood, in the United Kingdom, At the school, Gaulier taught classes in "le jeu", clown, bouffon, Shakespeare, Chekhov, Molière, Feydeau, melodrama, mask play, neutral mask, Greek tragedy, characters, Commedia dell'arte, and vaudeville.

The BBC show Newsnight covered Gaulier in 2015. That same year, Cal McCrystal reported to the BBC that he, "knew of no greater performance teacher ever". In 2016 The Guardian reported that Gaulier-trained' [was] a buzzword on many a comic's publicity". Also in 2026, Hong Kong film actor Anthony Wong claimed Gaulier "exploded his idea of what acting could be". In 2026, NPR reported classes at the school are now being taught by Gaulier's former assistants, graduates of the school whom he trained prior to his 2023 retirement.

Pedagogy In Gaulier's view of performance, the performer must feel pleasure to be performing, having "complicité" (the art of being present and connected with your audience or partner). Pillars in Gaulier's teaching are "humanity, complicité, and play". By humanity, Gaulier means "a light delicacy, vulnerability, and an almost childlike openness that reveals our fears and tenderness". His methodology of teaching was designed to allow students to develop their own strengths, following specific principles but no defined method. Gaulier resisted the characterisation of his teaching as a method: "It's not a method. It's just if you fail, and you are happy to fail, it's to discover something else." He did not emphasize technique or physical virtuosity, and suggested these traits in a performer will become boring, unexciting, and disconnecting to an audience. He was much more interested in impulse than movement analysis. However, both Gaulier and Lecoq stressed the importance of a performer's unique, individualistic connection with their audience.

To Gaulier the essence of clowning was to "find your idiot". He was highly critical of different dramatic theorists including Stanislavski and Grotowsky, writing, "We want to see actors enjoying themselves. We are not interested that you just buried your grandmother." Similarly, Gaulier held disdain for "the military, the church, hypocrisy, sham, inauthenticity, politicians, academics, and fascists," according to The Guardian. Gaulier wrote, "the theoreticians of the theatre (except Meyerhold and Brecht) are all minus habens who prowl around universities hoping to hear a faint echo of their mental masturbations". Conversely, on the purpose of his teaching, Gaulier specified, "I hope I try to teach freedom. I hope. We never know exactly what we teach." In 2026, Simon McBurney wrote that Gaulier's teaching technique created a dynamic where, "he was the teacher, you were the pupils", explaining "the relationship of power was offered as a structure to be undermined and shattered with laughter". He said that "we have to be politically correct but I've never been politically correct. I love to say horrible things – I get that from my mother. She was from Spain and the Spanish have a black humor. They say 'fuck you' to many people, the Spanish." Dominique Abel, film director Annabel Arden, theatre and opera director and Complicité co-founder René Bazinet, clown, mime and actor Louise Brealey, actor Phil Burgers, comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, comedian Simon Dormandy, theatre director Alexis Dubus, comedian Mark Feuerstein, actor Sean Foley, director, comedian and half of troupe The Right Size Julia Garner, actress Josh Glanc, comedian Fiona Gordon, film director and Complicité co-founder Stefan Haves, theatre director, clown Kathryn Hunter, actor Mark Ivanir, actor and Gesher Theatre co-founder Karena Lam, actress Elf Lyons, comedian Simon McBurney, actor, writer, director and Complicité co-founder Siobhan McSweeney, actress Yolande Moreau, actress and filmmaker Simon Munnery, comedian Nina Nawalowalo, theatre director Eryn Jean Norvill, actor Alisa Palmer, director of National Theatre School of Canada Sally Phillips, actor, comedian, television presenter John-Luke Roberts, stand-up comedian, writer, actor Geoffrey Rush, actor -- studied with Gaulier at École Jacques Lecoq Teresa Saponangelo, actress Shubham Saraf, actor Simon Scardifield, actor and playwright David Schwimmer, actor Samantha Scott, director Nathalie Seseña, actress Lorna Rose Treen, comedian Viggo Venn, comedian Tom Walker, comedian Erica Whyman, deputy artistic director at the Royal Shakespeare Company Anthony Wong, actor Olivia Yan, theatre director, actor, and playwright Zach Zucker, comedian

Gaulier died on 9 February 2026, at the age of 82, due to complications from a lung infection.

On 18 February 2026, Gaulier's funeral was held at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. The Observer reported the "unconventional wake" had students in attendance "leaving flowers, red noses, and even a banana on his coffin." The film includes classroom footage, interviews with former students, and Gaulier's reflections on life and teaching. Subsequently, the school published the film online, describing it as "his last present".