The Waiting Room: A Clown’s Bureaucratic Journey

Overview

In “The Waiting Room,” audiences become fellow applicants alongside Toska the Clown in an increasingly absurdist bureaucratic processing center. What begins as a simple immigration application spirals into a surreal multi-day journey through institutional purgatory, where forms multiply endlessly, chairs rearrange themselves mysteriously, and memories become both currency and contraband.

Through physical comedy, poetic object manipulation, and direct audience participation, this immersive solo performance explores themes of displacement, belonging, and the search for humanity within dehumanizing systems.

As Toska’s number grows impossibly long and the requirements become increasingly arbitrary, audiences find themselves implicated in the very system they’re witnessing. Will surrendering personal objects and filling out absurd forms lead to approval, or is the waiting room itself the destination?

This site-specific work transforms venues into living waiting rooms, creating an exploration of migration, memory, and the absurd resilience required to navigate modern institutional life.

Note: the 9/10 performance of this show has been canceled.

About the Artist

Danielle Levsky (they/she) is a West Philly-based transdisciplinary artist whose work brings together clowning, physical theatre, and embodied storytelling.

Their work also includes "War and Play," commissioned by National Queer Theater at Lincoln Center in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and "The Crone Chronicles," an audience-interactive exploration of Slavic folklore. Recent presentations include PhysFestNYC, Cannonball Festival, and FringeArts Scratch Nights.

As a community curator, Danielle hosts and produces monthly events like Full Moon on Fire and Philly Clown Slam (co-produced), connecting performance to community healing and social transformation. They also lead workshops in yoga, clown practice, and Jewish clown traditions.

Danielle's work centers on breaking down barriers between performers and audience, using clown to reveal connections through shared vulnerability and play. Their performances investigate how we process complex historical and personal narratives through the body, finding humor and humanity in all spaces.

Credits