A Fool. An innovator. A breath of fresh air with his feet firmly rooted on the ground. Indefinable in nature. The Fool is outside the realm of the known. The Fool is a mirror, a flip side, an alternative way of looking at things. Jonathan Kay is a Fool through and through, never resting with the given.

Jonathan Kay spent many years working with mime and interactive theatre before moving to Winchester in 1974. Part of his work has been the Hat Fair, which started in St John’s Rooms in Winchester 35 years ago, now the longest running street arts festival in England. It has always been his intention to grow spaces where people of a creative intention can meet, talk, socialise and create. The Hat Fair is a catalsyt for change in the arts, street arts, making theatre more relevant to the everyday person who lives in Winchester. In 2008 he received an Honoury Fellowship from the University of Winchester. His aim is to bring his form of theatre to the city, which he calls Attic Theatre, deriving from Attica in Ancient Greece, and is a particular style of working with the community where individuals come together to create festivals and celebratory happenings. Jonathan has been working with and training street performers, actors, artists, teachers, midwives, doctors, barristers, young people and old people from all over the world, in a style culminating in the start of the Nomadic Academy of Fools in 2007, which travels around Europe and the UK, taking those who want to create and learn to be more than audience on a journey into the world of the Fool.

Jonathan Kay is one of the most inspiring and free-thinking theatre practitioners I have ever met. He is a unique, genuine and natural communicator. A one off. As a teacher and a performer, he is funny, frustrating and challenging all at once. He cuts through pretension, contrivance, cliché’ and ego. There was no hiding place. I learnt a lot from him. I would urge anyone to sign-up to his courses and to see his shows. He is a philosopher, a fool and a much needed voice of sanity.

Jeremy Stockwell, Tutor at RADA 1994-2004, Associate of National Theatre Education

…at last I have found a theatre that makes nonsense of sense. This is a theatre of ‘Now’, so come and jump into the exciting space Jonathan offers and discover your reality and in turn your theatrical freedom.

Anna-Helena McLean

Here is somebody who has a remarkable insight into human nature; an insight, which is coupled with a motivation that is beautifully compassionate. Offer up some trust and a little craziness and then together you will become performers of small miracles.

Anna Lidzey