UK circus has come a long way in recent years, and we are starting to see a generation of performers who are melding circus and theatre in intriguing ways, honouring the skill of the trick but also using contemporary performance techniques to good effect. It’s the case with Circumference’s often beautiful, sometimes exhilarating show, which leads the audience on a merry dance, promenade-style, through the old Guardian offices on Farringdon Road in London, and eventually up on to the roof. The city twinkles below; the moon hangs in the sky above; the performers soar like human birds, strong and fearless.
There is some fantastic stuff here, particularly around the theme of intimacy. A couple, once lovers, curl around each other on a pole. A line of performers wait like sitting ducks in the path of a rolling wheel – nobody flinches as it misses them by a hair’s breadth. Their trust in each other is supreme.
The show is best when it co–opts the architecture of the building. In the old canteen, a series of basic trust-style exercises grows into something more interesting. The company use a staircase in a parkour–influenced sequence in which a girl walks on air – or, at least, the outstretched hands of her colleagues.
There are serious pacing issues and a lack of flow through the space. The music often swamps the speech and it can be hard to see. We are asked to keep our mobile phones on, but apart from the pole sequence, when information about the couple performing is neatly delivered via text, this proves a distraction and simply slows proceedings down.
But it’s encouraging to see a company really considering the form of a circus show and not just its acrobatic content. Along with a growing number of other young UK–based companies, Circumference suggest that circus is taking flight.
- At Theatre Delicatessen, London, until 5 July. Box office: 020-7278 7694.
._Patrick_s_Day_Parade_94380.jpg?w=600)
