Circus Oz is an amazing show of aerobics, juggling, comedy, and marvellous tricks that bring light to the big top, and gasps to the audience. While I was walking to the Big Top on my way to the show, I saw that the beautiful bells outside the tent had woken up and were playing a circus-themed tune. It held an excited but welcoming feeling as they played you into the tent.
Inside, it seemed like everything outside the stage was a performance as well. They were holding a free doughnut trivia, and a comedian/doughnut seller was asking you questions like, “Where do you think this town is at? What is the name of the person who did this?” And so on.
It was a beautiful layout inside, and the actors and performers were hurrying around the stage and on the ground handing out fruit-shaped stickers. On the stage there was nothing but a piano, a vase of roses and a candlestick. It brought a mood of suspense to know this show was supposed to be industrial and noisy.
In the first scene, a guy in a Beatles-style jacket was playing the flute while a hooded lady was playing the piano with a mournful tune. As the song progressed, another lady came rushing out onto the stage and put up a stop sign. On the other side was the word slow. when she turned around the sign to say stop, the music stopped playing at once. But then when she turned around, the sign swung to slow. The musicians were playing in slow-motion!
The first half of the show was funny and brought a lot of humour to the audience, but there were also some amazing dancing, singing, gymnastics and flips. One of my favourite acts was when two of the performers started playing with yellow blocks. As time progressed, they started doing tricks with them, like flipping three around the one block and holding it suspended in mid-air. It was amazing, and after many nail-biting acts, we headed out for the interval.
The show was an absolute success. It was so brilliantly planned, and marvellously made, that I enjoyed every second of it. It had a very clever storyline, since the Circus Oz performers were moving to a new base in Collingwood. The building was gave them the idea of construction and metal, so that’s why the show is to do with creation and establishment.
To read more on the Circus Oz site, click here!
Meet one of the performers, Luke, who plays Neville. He has been in many different circuses and has made his own circus company, named Caravan. He is unbelievably passionate about his circus and his career, and puts a show of bravery on stage as a different character. I also got a wonderful chance to interview him on the day of the performance. Here are his words:
O: Have you had any previous jobs that have helped or inspired you to become a circus performer
L: I did gymnastics for a while, I don’t know if it is a job! I used to do lots of trampolining when I was a kid. With just like lots of aerial awareness, lots of flips, sort of getting strong, lots of bike riding and lots of sports. All that sort of physical stuff. Do you play any sports?
O: I do fencing
L: Ahhhh! I’ve done fencing before! I had a fencing sword .. what’s the sword called?
O: A foil, an epee or a sabre
L: I had stuck into my fencing mask, that was really scary! Arrgghhh!
O: What was your first accident on stage?
L: (laughs) everyone always ask about the accidents! I broke my toe when I was twelve. I was doing a vaulting routine, I had to shoot my legs through and they got stuck in the vaulting box. I’ve dislocated my shoulder once I’ve torn my meniscus in my knee
O: What type of circus tricks are you incapable of?
L: Well lots of flying stuff I’m incapable of doing. Definitely not very good at contortion … like really flexi people. Couldn’t do trapeze to save my life any kind of aerial stuff I wouldn’t be able to do.
O: Have you travelled overseas to perform and if so has it been successful?
L: Yep! We’ve done quite a lot of touring overseas. We did the UK in 2007, that was pretty successful. We’ve just come back from the United States and we’ll be going back there a the end of the year. I’ve done quite a lot of touring overseas. This job takes you everywhere. It is a very travelling kind of job.
O: How hard to you train to become so talented on stage?
L: Quite a lot. When I was younger I was in the Fruit Fly Circus and we used to train … instead of doing like PE or sports we would be doing circus skills and then after school we would have a big gymnasium where we would train and stuff and then after that I joined a couple of circuses and continued training and then I joined NICA with their Bachelor of Circus Arts … a university degree …
O: Have you been in other circuses before Circus Oz?
L: Yep, sure have. I was in Lunar Circus. I made my own circus company called Caravan. I’ve been in This Side Up, lot of Fruit Fly shows.
O: What do you eat between performances and before shows to become so energetic?
L: Bananas, lots and lots of bananas!
O: The new Circus Oz building is going to be around where we live, so do you think you’ll be having classes for older kids and youngsters?
L: Absolutely. And everybody is welcome!
O: Thank you, it was nice to meet you Luke.
L: No worries, enjoy, thanks for coming to the show.
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Not only does this play have a witty sense of humour, there are underlying, hidden themes of politics, power, and other important elements that bring the play into a twist of actions and uncertainness.
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