Author Archives: Adrian Berry

Circus Playlist 2018

He’s back! Adrian Berry, Artistic Director of Jacksons Lane, returns with the legendary Edinburgh Fringe Circus Playlist

Ok, 2018 Edinburgh Fringe – it’s that time once more when I whizz through half a dozen or so circus shows and compare them to a random album from the depths of my mind. Who’s going to be this year’s Beyoncé and who will win the half-baked Half Man Half Biscuit prize? Thankfully it was a great year.

A Good Catch: Casting Off. Winner of the Total Theatre and Jacksons Lane Award for Circus

Let’s start with the winner of the Total Theatre and Jacksons Lane Award for Circus – A Good Catch and Sharon Burgess Productions’ Casting Off. Much has been said about this evidently Australian intergenerational female work, and rightly so. It’s a hugely skilled, big-hearted show that breaks down barriers throughout and wins you over from the start and all the way through this charming hour. The interaction and banter between the three is addictive – simply brilliant work from a trio who have been together for most of their entire lives. Album: The Orlons, The Wah Watusi (nostalgic girl power from a trio of female powerhouses).

Casus: You and I

More from down under – it was indeed a golden year for the Aussies. Casus’ You and I is a moving, flowing dance-circus work, mainly ground-based but also with some truly gorgeous static trapeze. A slightly twee subject matter – the two men’s relationship, both domestic and intimate – was explored with finesse, subtlety and fragility. Set pieces merged effortlessly, I fell into their loving world and by the end was on my feet with a tear in my eye. Album: Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra, Nancy and Lee 3 (a perfect duo with evident love).

Company 2: Sediment

Oh sod it, let’s stick with that huge hot, dry continent as it pretty much won over the Fringe this year. Company 2’s Scotch and Soda was a massive runaway hit a few years ago, but the new work Sediment is a different proposal entirely. Another duet, this loose take on Dostoevsky’s Notes From the Underground I felt owed a little to Ricochet’s Smoke and Mirrors in parts (if they indeed saw it) and it took a little time to warm up in terms of the narrative and relationship. But boy when it did there were so many esoteric delights within. A play on relationship power, Sediment is a visual feast and feat of athleticism, subverting norms and playing with genres. I adored it. Album: Nils Frahm, All Melody (a stuttering contemporary abstract form with real vision).

Recirquel: My Land

A hop and a skip over to, ummm, Hungary now, and some friends of mine making their second appearance at the Fringe. Recirquel are known for big international spectaculars such as last year’s Paris De Nuit, but here they were squeezed on to Assembly Roxy’s intimate stage for the more politicised and (melo)dramatic My Land. As with the more recent Non Solus, this saw the company downscale and contemporarise somewhat, and having seen Vagi Bence’s work lots in Budapest, I wondered how the very Hungarian aesthetic would translate over here. Lots of lean athletic male bodies and a singular (brilliantly balletic) woman saw this young troupe of acrobats plucked from the Ukraine for what was probably the most highly-skilled circus work this year. We could argue forever about the nature of ‘contemporary’ and, yes, the production values were often rather glitzy, even in the Roxy’s gothic space, but as a more complete theatrical work, as much dance as circus, it was one of the hugest hits at the Fringe and this young company should be applauded. Album: Marc Almond – Heart on Snow (historic eastern ballads brought bang up to date).

Lumo: WireDo

Ok, let’s head even further north to Finland and a delightful solo from Hanna Moisala’s Lumo Company with WireDo. Essentially a coupling of the ancient Japanese rope art Shibari with some dexterous work on the tight wire, one would have thought it a struggle to fill 45 minutes with just these two forms. But bring into that Moisala’s dazzling presence, connection, and some exquisite musical scoring, and the audience was hypnotised by the complexity of the rope, delicacy of the wire and the sensuality of the precise movement. Album: Neko Case – Hell On (primal nature with knotted textures).

Gandini Juggling: 8 Songs

Guilty pleasure time as I return to the Roxy for Gandini Juggling’s 8 Songs. With a soundtrack of Bowie, Dylan, The Velvet Underground and more, I was already won over before I sat down. It’s a light, seamless ensemble affair that does what it says on the tin but with joy, ground-breaking juggling (obviously) and a sense that the company are loving every minute. It’s almost like a Gandini side project, so I could liken it to The Last Shadow Puppet’s Age of the Understatement, but no – let’s go with Ade’s Top 100 Spotify Playlist https://spoti.fi/2CSWlk8 (delve into my head).

Hatfield & Triguero: Gibbon

Oh actually, that side project/off shoot analogy still stands as 8 Songs performers (Chris) Patfield and (Jose) Triguero enchanted me with Gibbon. Despite being in the worst venue for intimacy and silence in Edinburgh (a pop-up box on George Street, outside Assembly Rooms), the duo beat the lorries and buses outside the flimsy, barely-tented space to create an intimate, choreographed weaving of bodies, text and (ahem) balls. Clowns in the best and least conventional sense, their charm and effortlessness was a genuine joy, so much I saw it twice. Album: Kendrick Lamar – Damn (minimalist, urgent playing with form).

Barely Methodical Troupe: Shift

Finally, let’s head to Barely Methodical Troupe’s ‘difficult third album’ Shift. Being so familiar with the company’s work I had to switch off my connection a little – the self-deprecation of Louis and Charlie felt very familiar, but ya know, it’s becoming their trademark so let them go with it. It’s not like John, Paul, George and Ringo ever stopped being cheeky at the height of their fame. So we still want to see gentle giant Louis push his physical boundaries, and we yearn for a poetic Charlie Wheeler cyr solo – but this time they’ve lost their friend Beren for a while and brought in two new artists, Esmerelda and Elihu, which has reignited the company (not through losing Beren but through the introduction of new influences and disciplines). Some of the gags fell a little flat and I couldn’t always work out the constant metaphor of the straps, but what it achieved in my mind was communication, playfulness and sheer effortlessness in the ebb and flow of the simply beautiful ensemble work. I can’t wait to see where they go next. Album: Powerdance – The Lost Art of Getting Down (a fresh and funky place of transformation and abandon).

Ok I’m outta time and outta space. Check out the shows, check out the records. See you next year.

Featured image (top) Lumo: WireDO

A Good Catch and Sharon Burgess Productions’ Casting Off was seen at Assembly George Square Gardens. Recirquel: My Land and Gandini Juggling: 8 Songs were seen at Assembly Roxy. Lumo Company: Wiredo was at C South. Hatfield and Triguero: Gibbon was at the Assembly Rooms, George Street. Barely Methodical Troupe’s Shift was at Underbelly’s Circus Hub.

All shows were presented as part of the Edinburgh Fringe 2018 www.edfringe.com

For more on the Total Theatre Awards 2018 winners and shortlist, see www.totaltheatrenetwork.org/totaltheatreawards/

If: The Last Word on Circus at Ed Fringe 2017

Hurrah. It’s my annual ‘If Edinburgh Fringe Circus Shows Were An Album’ review again, where I get to combine my two passions and indulge my inner muso-geek.

2017 was a pretty brilliant year overall and once more a delight and privilege for me to represent my venue in sponsoring the Total Theatre and Jacksons Lane Award for Circus.

So here we go with the few shows which have not yet been covered by TT – my micro-reviews-slash-obscure music-comparison-fiesta.

Cie Ea Eo: All the Fun. Photo Jonah Samyn

Cie Ea Eo’s All the Fun (presented at Underbelly Circus Hub, and shortlisted for the TT/JL Award) wasn’t exactly fun per se, but it was an intriguing, at times highly skilled juggling meditation on, well, futility and space I guess (not the astrological kind alas, although that could really have been fun – gravity defying juggling clubs anyone?). At one point the show literally deconstructed this sometimes-maligned genre, and whilst some of the set pieces were a little over-long and the silence occasionally awkward, the overall feel was of a strong and accomplished ensemble that are really trying – and sometimes succeeding – to do something different with the medium.

ALBUM: Yves Tumor: Serpent Music (for brave experimentalism).

Gandini Juggling: Sigma

More juggling, but a totally different approach from the brilliant Gandinis. Sigma (Assembly Hall) found itself the worthy winner of the Total Theatre Award for Physical & Visual Theatre, probably because it’s neither dance nor circus, yet paradoxically both. A series of alluring vignettes from the inner-psyches of Seeta Patel, Kati Ylä-Hokkala and Sean Gandini: the joining of juggling and Bharatanatyam dance made perfect sense – as it had previously in the ballet-fusion of 8 x 8 Ephemeral Structures – both mediums here being mathematically complex algorithms combined with beauty and brains. Playful, knowing, transcending genres and cultures and broken up into bite-sized pieces that drew you in and made you smile, Sigma left me wanting more.

ALBUM: Clinton: Disco and the Halfway to Discontent (funky culture clash and sassily sardonic humour).

Flip Fabrique: Transit

Flip Fabrique (also Assembly Hall) returned to the Fringe with Transit, their follow-up to last year’s hit, Attrape-Moi. It’s a gentle and intelligent work telling the tale of life on the road as a circus troupe, but far from being alienating or over self-referential, it succeeded in charming the audience with astonishing aerial and trampoline work – the latter a little over-familiar from other recent comparable work – but also some hugely original acro and (sheesh…) juggling sequences – one particular duet had the audience openly gasping. The detail in synchronicity was also awe-inspiringly good.

ALBUM: Christine and the Queens: Chaleur Humaine (French, fabulous and slightly arty).

Cirque Eloize: Cirkopolis

What is there to say about Cirque Eloize (Pleasance at Edinburgh International Conference Centre) that has not already been said? They are never less than spectacular and possess an ever-growing ensemble with some of the finest circus artists in the world. And for the first half hour of Cirkopolis (based on Fritz Lang’s 1927 expressionist masterpiece Metropolis) the sense of relief at something so visually coherent and accomplished is palpable. Eloize seek to entertain, pure and simple, and there’s nowt wrong with that. They’re funny, they’re sexy, but sometimes you yearn for something which delves a little deeper. It’s hard to fault the routines, but what initially starts as a seamless homage to the film with a clear narrative eventually falls into a sequence of individual set pieces. Don’t get me wrong – it’s a stunning piece of work – but I yearn to see if they can explore and express a little more subtext and subtlety in the future.

ALBUM Kanye West: Yeezus (big statements, very skilful, a little hollow in places).

Circus Abyssinia: Ethiopian Dreams

Finally, let’s go back to FUN. And this time it really was fun – Circus Abyssinia’s Ethiopian Dreams (Circus Hub) was dangerous (in the best and safest way), unashamedly playful and absolutely, unequivocally universal. Although it starts weakly with a cutesy attempt at a loose dreamy narrative, it quickly turns into one huge ensemble of festival frivolity for all the family. It doesn’t try to be contemporary or mainstream, it succeeds because it just is. Bibi and Bichu’s fine (and very young) ensemble elicited more whoops, cheers and standing ovations then I have seen in a long time.

ALBUM: Michael Jackson: Off the Wall (for pure joyous escapism).

Fauna, winners of the Total Theatre & Jacksons Lane Award for Circus 2017

Oh, and shout outs obviously for the other three shortlisted shows already reviewed in the Total Theatre & Jacksons Lane Award for Circus – the worthy winner Fauna (Bjork: Vulnicura ); Ellie Dubois’ No Show (Death in Vegas: Satan’s Circus, mostly for the subtle use of the track Girls ); and Svalbard: All Genius All Idiot (pretty much anything by Flaming Lips, but let’s go for the Dead Petz one with Miley Cyrus).

That’s all for another year. And the albums? Google them and knock yerself out…

Adrian Berry is artistic director of Jacksons Lane theatre in North London, supporters of the Total Theatre and Jacksons Lane Award for Circus at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

For more about the Total Theatre Awards see www.totaltheatrenetwork.org

This year’s Total Theatre Award winners listed here.

Featured image (top): Fauna, winners of the Total Theatre & Jacksons Lane Award for Circus 2017. Photo Kate Pardey

Circus Top of the Pops – Ed Fringe 2016

Adrian Berry, Artistic Director of Jacksons Lane, reflects (in his own inimitable way) on circus seen at Edinburgh Fringe 2016

Both rich and slim pickings this year – some great work, some brave work. Not quite enough brave work: venues need to get out and explore circus more. But there was much to love in 2016.

A couple of years ago I wrote a circus round-up at the Edinburgh Fringe in which I compared every show to a band, combining my two passions – circus and music. This year I’m going one step further – a band and an album. Consider this review a triple-vinyl-gatefold-remastered reissue of my time in Edinburgh in 2016.

Joli Vyann: Imbalance

Joli Vyann: Imbalance

Put down that iPhone, switch off Pokemon Go and listen to me – this is two bodies questioning technology and relationships today. Whilst the content would have benefitted from a smaller and calmer space, Jan and Olivia draw you in to their world and create some intrinsic fusions of intense acrobalance and dance that left some of this audience open-mouthed. Ok, it’s a well-trodden subject matter, but the first time explored in this way, from a company that continues to grow and explore.

Album: Young Marble Giants: Colossal Youth

Emma Serjeant: Grace

Emma Serjeant: Grace

Repetitive, juddering movement and (con)textual acrobatics combine to tell a story of a life half-lived, and how loss can be hard to comprehend where a loved one is concerned. Whilst the ending broke the spell somewhat, for the first 45 minutes Sergeant seamlessly infused her myriad range of skills with a narrative that was hypnotic and beguiling. With a little less thought, Grace could be pitch-perfect.

Album: Lou Reed: Magic and Loss

Ockham’s Razor: Tipping Point

Ockham’s Razor: Tipping Point

Our Total Theatre Award recipients for 2016, this is a show that gets better with repeated viewing. Ensemble work par-excellence, it’s great to see Ockham’s progress from the gentle ‘friendship’ circus for which they are known so well, to something with more daring, dexterity and risk. Inventive like no other circus on the fringe, the audience was transfixed by the almost scientific and mathematic approach to acrobalance and the Chinese pole. A worthy winner.

Album: Kanye West: 808s and Heartbreak (it’s to do with timing and balance…)

Silver Lining: Throwback

Silver Lining and Jacksons Lane: Throwback

Ok, maybe I had a small hand in producing this but that‘s no reason to ignore 60 minutes of pure circus joy. Packed audiences swooned and swayed at the 90s memories (yes, they’re that young) as we joined in, sang along, marvelled at a three-high Officer and a Gentleman tribute, and whooped at juggling feet, duo handbalancing, and the best Michael Jackson/Beatles straps mash-up you’re ever going to see.

Album: Various Artists: Now That’s What I Call Music Vol 73

Lost in Translation: The Hogwallops

Lost in Translation Circus: The Hogwallops

Returning from its success in 2015, Lost in Translation have created a massively accessible show for all ages with everything including the kitchen sink thrown in – maybe even an oven or two. Cloud, acro, cradle and a whirling zimmer frame, the Italian family flavours mixed with (Roald) Dahl are an intoxicating brew that sends you out beaming.

Album: Goblin: Profondo Rosso (Google it)

Company Here and Now: Perhaps Hope

Company Here and Now: Perhaps Hope

Again, like Joli Vyan, not the sexiest subject matter to dive in to when you’re fighting against so much cabaret and frivolity at the Fringe, and once more the venue was possibly a little mis-judged (Laurie Anderson versus a waltzer outside the tent playing Whigfield – not sure that was their intention) but this was a very brave work about climate change that needed tranquility and focus for an audience to reflect. It’s an abstract piece that is beautifully constructed and performed across circus genres by a very accomplished duo. But I need to see it again – somewhere where the planet is less crowded.

Album: Talking Heads: Little Creatures

Upswing: Bedtime Stories. Photo by Mark Robson

Upswing: Bedtime Stories

A dreamy way to spend a morning. I’d like to say ‘too good for kids’ but the little ones need to see aerial circus-theatre like this – gentle, beguiling, perfectly pitched and in many ways so nostalgic in the safe and savvy hands of Vicki Amedume. Children should take their parents to show them how it’s done.

Album: Spiritualized: Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space

Natalie Reckert: Selfie With Eggs. Photo Nick Erickson

Natalie Reckert: Selfie With Eggs

I’ve already compared this to Kraftwerk – robotics and German techno make it hard not to – but this is so much more than a 70s KlingKlang tribute. A feat of skill, endurance and impeccable comic timing, Reckert is as compelling as any performer I have seen this year. Messy in the best way, precise and pointedly abstract, Selfie with Eggs crawls under your virtual skin and takes you sci-fi vogueing.

Album: Aphex Twin: Syro

Gandini Juggling/ Plastic Boom: Water on Mars

Gandini Juggling and Plastic Boom: Water on Mars

A gravity-defying synthetic orgy of three boys and their toys, this is juggling reinvented for the 21^st century. Exhilaratingly post-modern (but nowhere near as pretentious as that statement) the audience is taken to pressure point as everything they can get their hands on is thrown, flipped, caught, balanced and beaten into submission. The most fun I had in a theatre this year.

Album: The Flaming Lips: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

Head First Acrobats: Elixir

Head First Acrobatics: Elixir

Sexy zombie circus? Well don’t mind if I do sir. This is a no-brainer with brains (and was that another Michael Jackson routine?). Where some work suffered in a noisy tent, Elixir positively thrived in its late-night slot. A loose pseudo-medical narrative gave a vehicle to some stupendous skills and joyous dance from these sensational young clowns which made us holler and howl.

Album: Funkadelic: Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow

And that’s all for another year, circus kids.

Photo above, and featured image at top of page are: Ockham’s Razor: Tipping Point.

Photos by Mark Dawson.

Ockham’s Razor: Tipping Point won the Total Theatre and Jacksons Lane Award for Circus at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2016. Emma Serjeant: Grace, Company Here and Now: Perhaps Hope, and Gandini Juggling/ Plastic Boom: Water on Mars were shortlisted for the Awards in this category. See Reviews section for words by other writers on Grace, Water on Mars, Perhaps Hope, Bedtime Stories, Elixir, and Selfie With Eggs.

Jacksons Lane is a venue (and more) in Highgate, North London – a cultural and creative hub offering the best in contemporary theatre and circus, a wide range of arts-based classes and activities, and a large-scale outreach programme for hard-to-reach communities. See www.jacksonslane.org.uk

Oh Boy! A New Circus Award at The Ed Fringe

Barely Methodical Troupe | Bromance

Adrian Berry samples the circus delights seen at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2014 whilst judging the brand-new Total Theatre /Jacksons Lane Award for Circus Theatre.

Edinburgh this year was a bit of a double-edged sword for me, so to speak. I was actually planning my first year off in 15 years after a few trips abroad – including to Scandinavia to catch the CIRKO Festival in Helsinki, and the rather mind-blowingly good new Racehorse show at Subtopia in Stockholm. So I was looking forward to some London time for the first August in aeons. But then the Total Theatre Awards came a-knockin’ and Jacksons Lane found itself supporting a brand new award for circus this year. My year off therefore didn’t exactly pan out but, on the plus side, I got to judge and present the award, hang out with some amazing artists… oh, and catch the shows themselves.

It was an awfully strong list for an inaugural award, I was pleased to find, and an eclectically mixed bag – from lo-fi small-scale British work to the cream of international artists. I started with Circa’s Beyond, first seen in the UK at the Norfolk and Norwich Festival 2013, where it was presented in a Spiegeltent – here transposed to the Underbelly enormodome the McEwan Debating Hall (scene of their last two productions at the Fringe). As with Wunderkammer, seen here last year, the company presented the work on a sparse set, letting the skilled technique speak for itself; and once again with a loosely threaded narrative/aesthetic which, at times, held the production together. The Circa of old would often rely on a show-and-tell Variety approach, but in 2014 have mutated into something much more dynamic and character-driven. Beasts, beastiality and beats were the driving force behind Beyond, with some rare-to-find female base acrobatics amidst rabbit heads and Rubik’s cubes, with a truly exhilarating Chinese Pole finale involving all seven performers. Yes it’s grand, grandiose and a crowd-pleaser, but Circa don’t rely on nubile young things or trickery to try to seduce. Circa are the real deal and their work comes from the heart and mind.

A skip and a hop over to New Town to venture inside a rickety, archaic canvas tent beneath the stars… and the beating rain and blustering wind. Théâtre d’un Jour’s L’Enfant Qui was a piece full of darkness and infused with carny-culture, as much led by mime and puppetry as by circus but with a genuine and rarely seen integration of the forms. Nothing felt forced, and the tale of sculptor Jephan de Villier’s childhood and his journeys and adventures through a forest captured young and old imaginations alike, as we sat enthralled while the puppet Jephan pilfered our belongings, gently stroked our faces, and allowed us to live his wide-eyed life vicariously as, through him, we marvelled at the dextrous acrobatics, improvised balancing on rustic materials and exquisite ensemble work. Truly enchanting.

By my own admission I couldn’t fully get with Baccala Clown’s Pss Pss, but the three standing ovations from a sold-out rapturous crowd seemed to prove otherwise. With fairly conventional, yet warm-hearted clowning archetypes, this clowning duo demonstrated skilled acrobalancing, tumbling and some nimble trapeze work as well as a (slightly over-stretched) Keaton-esque routine with a stepladder. It was essentially small-scale outdoor street theatre in a large indoor space, but their humour and integrity filled the room.

Back-tracking to my preceding show: maybe my slightly-skewered view of Pss Pss was the effect of having just been fully blown away by a bare stage and three lads whose star is most definitely on the ascent, but this just-out of-nappies company (in circus terms) made my Fringe. Barely Methodical Troupe’s Bromance was the eventual winner of the (deep breath, long award title coming) Total Theatre/Jacksons Lane Award for Circus Theatre, and rightly so. It is rare for a brand new British company to a) exist b) produce a full-length work in their first year and c) bring it to the Edinburgh Fringe, let alone run away with such a prestigious award, but it is equally rare to find home-grown work of such purity and agility. A tale of three boys and their relationships, I remember seeing a work-in-progress six months ago, when they were not long out of training (all three came out of the National Centre for Circus Arts, formerly known as Circus Space, and won last year’s Circus Maximus prize). After the sharing, I asked them how Bromance came about. Their answer summed up the show in a simple statement: What did it mean that a bunch of heterosexual men would leave circus training sessions still holding hands? What did it say about their relationships and masculinity? In an age populated with peer pressure on men and women to conform to physical and sexual stereotypes, Bromance explored BMT’s personal dynamic and interaction; how they are perceived, and how they perceive themselves. Where it could have been flippant it was funny, and where it could have been preachy it was moving. The circus within the context felt perfectly balanced (unintentional pun), and tiny, detailed, almost balletic movements segued into spectacular acrobatic routines between Louis Gift and Beren D’Amico, coupled with possibly the finest Cyr Wheel routine ever seen on these shores from Charlie Wheeler. It’s not quite finished, but that was part of the excitement – seeing the trio experiment with narrative and form whilst simultaneously leaving an audience full of wonder and awe. Watch it grow.

Gravity & Myths’ A Simple Space was a returning delight and, although it still feels like observing a work-out in a training room at times, this is paradoxically the joy and beauty of the piece. As I stated last year in my round-up, the ensemble are self-taught/self-trained, but this year possibly not so self-produced (the brilliant Aurora Nova are behind their return in 2014). What felt like DIY punk-circus in the purest sense last year somehow felt a little forced this time around, but you can’t argue with the humility, athleticism and sheer strength of this rather amazing ensemble. Some of the naivety has perhaps dissipated, but in its place is a more confident approach that will see them adapt to a much larger scale in years to come.

Finally, Circo Aereo’s delightful The Pianist seemed to be most people’s highlight of the Fringe, and rightly so. A delicate piece of comedic mime with some beautifully understated tumbling and physicality, our helpless buffoon led us through 50 minutes of pure pleasure as Thomas Monckton’s minimal tale of his own lost symphonia made us smile and swoon. The aerial work on the chandelier may have felt a little contrived, but The Pianist was still a rare thing of elegant simplicity. A clown I could genuinely warm to.

So I was glad I made it 15 years in a trot. Circus-wise, there was perhaps not so much in terms of volume in this year’s Fringe compared to last year’s plethora, but sometimes less is more and 2014 was definitely a case of quality over quantity. A golden year – expect great things from these artists in the future. And the thought of taking a break? Well here’s to my 16th Fringe in 2015.

Jacksons Lane is currently hosting six new contemporary circus works-in-progress as part of its Transmission circus residency programme. See www.jacksonslane.org.uk for more details.

Play it, Sam: Circus at Ed Fringe 2013

It was something of a golden year for circus at the Edinburgh Fringe 2013 with some astonishing work. It’s fast creating the argument for a dedicated circus section of the brochure; ‘dance and physical theatre’ just doesn’t cut it any more, Ed Fringe. Now sort it out before a hundred angry jugglers come knocking at your door with their clubs.

PRS must have been pretty busy in August also. In every production I saw there was a helluva lot of tunes, both obscure and esoteric. I found myself frantically Googling lyrics every day and am presently compiling a Spotify playlist based on the shows I saw. Yes, there were some real geeks soundtracking circus out there this year, and being such a muso-nerd I appreciated this. So in that same spirit I am going to compare each production to an album as a handy shortcut for my fellow music/carny loving brethren.

Gravity & Other Myths’ A Simple Space was just that – stripped down, spatial and utterly effortless. Like the better-humoured cousin of Casus’ Knee Deep (also making a welcome return this year), this Ozzie ensemble (what exactly do they put in the water down there?) flipped and flew and glided, grinning like Cheshire cats throughout. We got some bare-buttocked skipping and an invitation to distract the troupe by throwing a few hundred balls on stage, which we willingly obeyed. Self-trained, self-produced, uncynical, they epitomise the spirit of DIY culture down under. ALBUM: Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – Trouble.

Japan’s Cheeky Park are not the best-skilled artists on the planet and they managed to shoehorn pretty much every circus medium going into Company Man, but they made me smile – lots. With some delicate ensemble work evident, if they concentrated more on their clowning and ditched the rudimentary silks and acrobalance then they’d have a sharp, comedic little show. ALBUM: The Monkees – The Best of the Monkees.

By all accounts, The Gandinis’ Smashed will run and run, and so it should. It’s been around a while now but to Edinburgh it was fresh meat, and the ten-strong ensemble relished this rebirth. The initial polite and genteel set-up totally wrong-footed the audience as it built to its heady climax of balanced destruction. After twenty-odd years, The Gandinis have found renewed energy and a new audience for a much maligned medium. More power to the ball. And the teacup. ALBUM: Blur – Modern Life is Rubbish.

My local Chinese in Bethnal Green serves a ‘special noodle soup’ with fish, prawns, beef, chicken, pork, pak choi, chilli and ginger. It’s tasty but confusing; as was NoFit State’s ‘theatrical’ departure Noodles. It’s a brave company that chooses to experiment on the Fringe on this scale but experiment they did. The close-up magic was lost in the space, the interlinking TV show set-up was clunky, but amidst the chaos was some fine, textured performance. It needs an outside eye, more direction and some sort of (*gag alert*) thread. Whilst still a little all-over-the-shop, there’s the makings of an interesting and enticing visual show here. ALBUM: Japandroids – Celebration Rock.

One of the big hits of the Fringe this year, Circa’s Wunderkammer was controlled and pure. In a giant, unforgiving space (the McEwan Hall) with hardly any equipment, they held the audience through sheer showmanship, charisma and some intricate, challenging ensemble work, as well as pretty much the finest Chinese pole duet I’ve ever seen. Seamless, sexy and utterly brilliant. ALBUM: Tom Waits – Mule Variations.

3 is a Crowd hail from (sheesh) Australia and their offering Fright or Flight was a surreal but charming little number. Ornithologically-themed, some neat juggling and quirky, tricky aerial work was skilled and underplayed. Quite beautiful, and very dry, they made my heart flutter. ALBUM: The Beatles – White Album (side 3).

Back to NoFit State, doing what they do and storming the Fringe at the same time. Bianco has matured and grown massively since I caught it at the Roundhouse. The overriding sense of achievement was highlighted by the fluidity, strength of character and celebration throughout. They’ve pretty much nailed it with this one. It’s pure spectacle with some pin-dropping moments of silence to break up the frenzy. Expertly performed, choreographed and directed, we should be thankful to have them on our shores. ALBUM: Grinderman – Grinderman II.

Lost Dog’s It Needs Horses wasn’t quite circus – more anti-circus – but to see the medium satirised and subverted by a fine duo with dance, comedy and tragedy was a delight to behold. Short, sharp, mesmerising, a total highlight. ALBUM: Sharon Van Etten – Tramp.

Special mention also needs to go to Circle of Eleven’s Leo (Aphex Twin – Drukqs) which returned after a successful 2012 – still an ingenious acrobatic solo delight; and of course Total Theatre Award Winner Flown by Pirates of the Carabina (PJ Harvey – Dry) – a joyous mishmash of live music, aerial object manipulation and, especially, Laura Moy’s thrilling Chinese pole act.

See you next year, circus freaks.

Circus success at the Total Theatre Awards 2013:

The following circus or circus-related shows were nominated for the Awards: No Fit State’s Bianco, Circa’s Wunderkammer, Pirates of the Carabina’s Flown, Cie Bal’s La Poème, Gandini Juggling’s Smashed, and Stefan Sing & Cristiana Casadio’s Tangram.

Pirates of the Carabina’s Flown, presented by Crying Out Loud at Underbelly, won a Total Theatre Award for Physical & Visual Theatre.

Circa were awarded the Total Theatre Award for a Significant Contribution, in honour not only of Wunderkammer (presented at Edinburgh Fringe 2013), but of their other shows seen in the UK in 2013 (including How Like an Angel and Beyond), and for a body of work which, over the past two decades, has contributed to Australia becoming a world leader in the circus arts.