World Circus Day
This World Circus Day, here’s a potted history of circus acts we’ve hosted over the last 50 years, as we look forward to those coming back to spin, balance, and fly about the building on our 50th Birthday Weekend.
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Interview with the Creators of Tongue & Cheek
Introduce yourselves and your project – what kind of work do you both do?
We are both circus practitioners, Charles is a juggler and Ruby is a trapeze artist. Since graduating from Circomedia, a circus school in Bristol, we have both gone on to work for companies in the UK and internationally in lots of different contexts, whether that’s on the street, at festivals or in theatres. We are both passionate about devising our own performance work and questioning ideas by combining comedy, theatre and circus.
What are the two shows about?
Tongue & Cheek is a double bill of our two solo shows. They are both new experimental work that use surreal comedy and circus technique with a strong connection to the audience.
Hiding in Plain Sight – The first show is by Charles and was born out of a video project started in lockdown, performing juggling to CCTV cameras. Taking his ideas into an indoor setting, he explores themes of surveillance culture and virtual identity using object manipulation, projection and physical comedy.
Transcendental – The second half is by Ruby and came about through creative writing and exploring bouffon in the air. She is interested in playing on society’s fascination with bodies, using it to reveal the bizarre nature of being inside one. Using a combination of text, trapeze and bold imagery, she makes a mockery of the performance of life.
What inspired you to stage these shows?
We were already working together informally, supporting each other creatively. As our shows have a similar focus on surreal comedy and social commentary, we decided to team up, making it more possible to tour our solo work. The industry has taken a big hit in the last few years so being able to do the production work together and help each other with backstage jobs makes a big difference. We also think it’s a fun experience for an audience to get to enjoy two very different worlds in one evening for the price of one ticket!
What can audiences expect and why should they come?
The night will be a high skilled circus show with a twist. Whether you come for the circus, the comedy or the theatre, you will see something you’ve never seen before. You will be in for a fun and memorable evening and at a good value price!
You can catch Tongue & Cheek on Friday 15 March at 7:30pm. Book your tickets here.
