The Only Clown in the Village

The only Asian person registered with Clowns International is Kingsley Perera from Swansea.

Four years ago Kingsley stopped having sex, gave up drinking alcohol and shuns both recreational and medicinal drugs. The 38 year old also gave up his regular diet of burger and chips and now eats only raw food washed down with fresh vegetable or fruit juice. The former 16 stone chronic asthmatic is unrecognisable now from the man with the boundless energy who set out on a tour of the Tsunami hit areas of Sri Lanka.

From March 29 to April 16 2005, Undercurrents productions recorded Kingsley’s self financed journey from Swansea to Sri Lanka.

From the minute he arrived in Sri Lanka, Kingsley began his performances dressed in a bright red and yellow clowns outfit. Children, nurses and parents laughed to his antics in hospitals without playrooms, in schools without roofs and orphanages without bedding. In some cases he had to negotiate with the army to distribute toys.

This trip was only the second time Kingsley had ever been on the native soil of his parents. Despite his strong Welsh accent, both of Kingsley’s parents were born and raised in Colombo before moving to Wales and giving birth to the future clown.

To mark exactly 100 days after the giant wave struck, Kingsley performed in a Tamil Muslim school where 16 children died. Teachers and many of the 400 pupils thanked him for lifting their spirits on such a grave day.

Kingsley also met up with artists from the UK who had taken an art piece created by a Swansea school to exchange with a school on the tropical island. Supported by the UK artists, pupils drew their memories of the Tsunami as part of a therapy session to aid recovery from the trauma. Some of the children’s artwork will be delivered to schools in Wales.

Kingsley travelled to some of the most beautiful areas of the island to explore the wider impact of the Tsunami. Everywhere he went, the Sri Lankan people, told of the need to entice the tourists back. Handicraft sellers, restaurants, hotel owners and taxi drivers all had tales of looming poverty since the Tsunami struck.

On April 14 Kingsley joined a family welcoming the Sri Lankan New Year. The traditional celebrations and feasting began as the sun rose at 6.48am. As many lit candles in their Buddhist temples Kingsley left a hope that the future will look a lighter brighter for the Tropical island.

‘The Only Clown in the Village’ will be screened around the summer festivals in the Undercurrents cinema and Groovy Movie cinema at Glastonbury festival.