Alan was born in 1954 in New Zealand and grew up in Auckland. He attended a Clown
School in Sweden in 1977, and has since taught and performed extensively in Scandinavia,
England, Australia and New Zealand.
Alan has lived in Sydney since 1992, where he
has been running Playspace Studio, a physical theatre
training centre in Newtown, which has been gaining international recognition in recent
years for a uniquely irreverent Australian approach to clown.
Alan's first novel, Moontan, is the story of a couple of clowns, set against the
occupation of a theatre by a collective of artists in Auckland. It was well received at
its launch at the Wellington Fringe Festival in New Zealand, and in Australia at the
Warrana Writers Festival in Brisbane in 1994.
Alan's second novel Dance Sisters is set in Sydney and tells the story of a female song
and dance trio which threatens to self-destruct on the brink of fame, when its leader
becomes involved with a manipulative cult, touting sex, astrology and virtual dreaming. It
was launched at the Melbourne Writers Festival in 1997.
Dance Sisters gained particular attention when it was released in May 2000 as an eBook
in a format which was packaged to enhance the reading experience on a computer with sound
and visuals.
The State Library of NSWrecently purchased the manuscripts and associated papers to
both Dance Sisters and Moontan, to be held in the Mitchell Reference Library, together
with a set of 12 archive videos from the work at Playspace Studio.
In Alan's third novel, Believers in Love, a father and daughter team of sand-sculptors
embark on a crazy adventure which takes them from Sydney's Bondi Beach, to a magic
mountain in New Zealand, in which they explore the transient nature of art and life, and
discover that dreams are real.
American reviews of 'Believers in Love' have been so good, that author, Alan Clay, toured literary festivals in the USA and Canada
last year.
Books
In Alan's novel, Believers in Love, a father and daughter team of
sand-sculptors embark on a crazy adventure which takes them from Sydney's Bondi Beach, to
a magic mountain in New Zealand, in which they explore the transient nature of art
and life, and discover that dreams are real.
Alan's second novel
Dance Sisters is available in paperback through on-line stores like amazon.com
Dance Sisters is also available as an eBook in a format
which is packaged to enhance the reading experience on your computer with sound and
visuals. This eBook is published by E-dition in Canada, and
requires no additional software. Click on the link below to check it out (this site also
includes a limited free evaluation version).
E-dition
- Dance Sisters
This navigable book for your PC requires Windows 9.x/NT, SVGA 800x600x16M colors, and a
sound card for the soundtrack. $12.95 US
"Moontan, which describes the
occupation of the Civic Theatre in Auckland by a collective of artists, is simple but
well-told. The novel is enjoyable, the characters are convincingly portrayed, and the city
of Auckland is sketched in with a deft touch." Otago Daily Times
Clown Classes
Training at Playspace Studio is unique, because of the blending of acting
techniques and physical training - aerial work, acrobatics, juggling, balance and
tightrope skills - and our passion for a more open and irreverent form of
clown."
Check a couple of
articles on the clown training on the
Media
Reports page.
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Books
Alan's second novel
Dance Sisters is available in paperback through on-line stores like 
"Moontan, which describes the
occupation of the Civic Theatre in Auckland by a collective of artists, is simple but
well-told. The novel is enjoyable, the characters are convincingly portrayed, and the city
of Auckland is sketched in with a deft touch." Otago Daily Times
Classes