Reginald Ernest Bolton (13 November 1945 – 14 July 2006) was a clown, teacher, actor and writer. Bolton's 1987 book ''New Circus'' has been called "seminal," and influenced a generation of performers. He used the circus for education and community development, working with the children on the streets of the Craigmillar estate in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Life

Reg was born in

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

, England. He was educated at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

, where he studied English and European literature. In 2004 he completed a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

''Why Circus Works: how the values and structures of circus make it a significant developmental experience for young people''
at

Murdoch University Murdoch University is a public university in Perth, Western Australia, with campuses also in Singapore and Dubai. It began operations as the state's second university on 25 July 1973, and accepted its first undergraduate students in 1975. Its ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. He married Annie Stainer, a dancer, mime and clown, with whom he had two children, Jo and Sophie.

Work

Reg worked tirelessly with children and communities both in the United Kingdom, and in Australia where he settled with his family in 1985. He owned and ran th
Circus Shop
selling a range of circus equipment such as juggling gear and unicycles. He was a pioneer in the area of educational community circuses. He wrote and produced many works, including: *1983 ''Circus in a suitcase''. A practical manual. New York *1987 ''New circus''. A world survey. London. Occasional journal ''Suitcase Circus News''. *1988 Videos ''Circus skills'' and ''School circus'' *1992 Video ''Safe circus'' *1995-98 Regular columnist for ''Laugh-Makers'' (USA) and ''Pro-Circus'' (Australia) *1996-04 Occasional contributor to ''Spectacle'' *1998 ''Showtime''. Best-selling children's book, (Premier's Book Award, 2000) *1999 Paper on ''Circus as Education'' in ''Australasian Drama Studies'' *2001 Keynote Speaker, Festival of American Youth Circus Organisation, Sarasota, Florida. Theme: ''Circus to save the world''. *2002 ''Intensity in tent city''. Leeds University, England *2003 Keynote Speaker, International Clowns Symposium, Weston super Mare, England. ''Clown abuse''. *2003 Article: 'The Philosopher on the Flying Trapeze'. ''Discourse'', San Francisco. *2003 ''The wisdom of clowns'' *2004 PhD paper:
Why Circus Works
how the values and structure of circus make it a significant developmental experience for young people''

Death

Reg died unexpectedly while working in Kununurra,

at the

Agricultural Show An agricultural show is a public event exhibiting the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show (a judged event or display in which selective breeding, bree ...

, "doing what he did best, putting on a great show". His funeral was held at St George's Cathedral in Perth, Western Australia on 29 July 2006, with a celebration of his life held at the Camelot Theatre,

Mosman Park Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...

on 30 July 2006.

Notes and references

External links

The Life and Work of Reg Bolton
'' A tribute website dedicated to social circus pioneer Dr. Reg Bolton (1945–2006) . It includes a photo library, notice board & other archives.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Bolton, Reg 1945 births 2006 deaths British clowns Schoolteachers from Kent People from Margate Alumni of the University of Warwick