The Albany in Deptford continues to bring the best of contemporary circus to South East London with the return of Beyond Circus, a long weekend of thrilling, graceful and gravity-defying performance curated by Vicki Amedume of Upswing and presented as part of the Albany’s 30th birthday celebrations.
The weekend opens on Thursday 22 November with Off the Ground, showcasing extracts of new work in development by female circus artists. Dark and playful, these pieces will be narrative driven for a more thought-provoking and immersive evening. Off the Ground includes work from Lindsey Butcher, Circkus Mlejn, Collective and then…, Frederike Gerstner, Francesca Martello and Alice Allart.
After two sell out shows in 2010 and 2011, Circus Bites returns on Friday 23 November with delectable morsels of circus cabaret hosted by the fun and flirty Tricity Vogue with DJ Jean Genie spinning the tunes. Audiences are seated in the round to enjoy exhilarating snippets of contemporary circus from a stellar line-up of artists including Linn Broden, Simone Riccio, Yam Doyev, Joli Vyann, Duo’ver and Stefano di Renzo. Albany perennial and ukulele-strumming songstress, Tricity Vogue, will mix an intoxicating cocktail of cabaret, comedy and song to accompany proceedings.
On Saturday 24 November, Tumble Circus bring their outdoors show, Death or Circus, inside for the very first time. A bad advice absurd circus show presented by Bono and Bjork, Death or Circus is a satire on celebrity culture using circus skills including duo trapeze, corde lisse, partner acrobatics, hula hoop, slapstick and clowning. Their recent show This is What We Do for a Living won Best Circus Show at the Adelaide Fringe Festival 2012 and played to packed audiences at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival (reviewed very favourably by Total Theatre here).
Finally, on Sunday 25 November, families get the chance to enjoy some circus action at the Albany’s Family Friendly Circus Workshops where children aged 7+ and their grown-ups can have fun tumbling, flying, swinging and spinning with Vicki Amedume.
See the Albany’s website for further details, or to book: www.thealbany.org.uk