Donna Oblongata

Donna Oblongata is a theater artist, writer, and clown teacher living in Philadelphia. She first studied the Pochinko clown technique in 2006, with master teacher Sue Morrison. The pedagogy had a profound effect on her, changing the way she approached performance and creative work in general. Seeking a deeper connection to the Pochinko pedagogy, she went on to study with John Turner, of Canada’s beloved Mump & Smoot, and has since begun teaching the work around the northeastern United States.

Donna is an active writer and performer. Her recent solo play, All 100 Fires has toured nationally twice, supported by a grant from the Puffin Foundation and by the immersive art company Meow Wolf. Play on Milwaukee called the piece “inventive, brimming with compassion, and monstrously funny.” She has toured her work around North America, New Zealand, and Europe– performing everywhere from post offices to living rooms to Off-Broadway theaters. Donna has twice been the recipient of the Leeway Foundation’s “Art and Change” grant for her teaching work. She holds an MFA in interdisciplinary theater arts from Towson University.