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It’s hard to pinpoint the exact decade that Jacksons Lane became a contemporary circus venue. It certainly started supporting Circus Artists with intention under the leadership of Artistic Director Ade Berry.  

But before that, in 1990 the new theatre opened with show from contemporary circus legends Ra Ra Zoo, sparking a Circus season, and the start of regular programmed community circus classes.  

Earlier still, Jacksons Lane hosted the 3rd annual European Juggling competition, in the same year as it was a venue for the 4th London Mime Festival.  

And even before then, the programme was packed with counter-culture theatre performance incorporating mime, physical theatre, puppetry and circus from such legendary groups as Cunning Stunts and Kaboodle.  

A 1978 Ham&High article reported on Jacksons Lane being ‘A sort of adult adventure playground’. Perhaps this church’s relationship with circus is written into its architecture, with all its temptingly tall ceilings and irregularly shaped rooms, perfect for climbing on, swinging from, and throwing high.  

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. 

Origins: 

Puppet Tree Theatre were the first caretakers of Jacksons Lane Community Centre and played a huge part in the center’s early years including parading people up the Archway Road on opening weekend March 1975, and organising the famous Woodland Festival on 30th July 1977. Though not technically circus, circus and puppetry go hand-in-hand, and lots of our shows today feature amazingly talented puppeteers bringing characters to life through object manipulation. Did anyone catch Mess! Last season? 

Opening weekend flyer featuring a large Puppet head from Puppet Tree pointing at Jacksons Lane ‘Taking off’ like a rocket.

28th January 1979

Kaboodle ‘present a stunning evening of mime and acrobatics’ with their show ‘Monkey’ on 28th January 1979. Circus school Circomedia argue that ‘More than any other company at that time, Kaboodle incorporated more accomplished circus skills, either in theatre street performances such as The Mission Show (1978) or more ambitiously with the narrative in their production of the Chinese legend Monkey (1978).’ – Our Story – Circomedia 

9th January – 2nd February 1980

Jacksons Lane is the venue for the 4th international London Mime Festival, which included a performance from Cacofonico Clown Theatre. The Festival features a broad range of animation theatre, circus, mask, mime, clown and visual theatre. It has championed contemporary circus and has presented a substantial amount of international and British new circus, such as the first full show of Ra-Ra Zoo which, according to Charlie Holland, broke new ground in the UK through combining theatrical effect with pure skill.  

January 7th, 8th and 9th 1981 

Cunning Stunts perform at Jacksons Lane with Gogol’s Overcoat. Cunning Stunts was a ‘gathering of wild women performers, musicians and comediennes show could all either acrobat, fly, juggle or fall-about. And if you couldn’t, well you would, because we all taught each other. There were no circus schools then. You had to go searching, seeking, finding your teachers. Learn, bring back and share! I found Eugene Balla. A great circus acrobat and performer, a master teacher and a unique and wonderful man who, at the age of 85, still teaches me.’ – Iris Walton, Circus Symposium 1997, quoted from Charlie Holland UK Contemporary Circus History – Palace of Variety  

Cunning Stunts poster 1981

3rd Annual European Juggling Convention 

In March, 1980, Jacksons Lane hosted the 3rd annual European juggling convention (EJC). The event ‘…attracted the largest gathering of juggling enthusiasts ever to meet under the same roof in the United Kingdom’, and Jacksons Lane was chosen as an ‘ideal venue’ with its  ‘large practice hall, pleasant theatre for our shows and convenient snack bar’. 42 jugglers participated in the 1980 convention, which now attracts crowds of up to 8,000. Not sure we’d fit them all in these days! –  32-3,p4 

1984

In 1984, Jacksons Lane hosted a one-day festival to support the campaign against rate-capping Haringey Council. A Scales of Justice was erected outside the building, with stilt walkers wearing pinstripe providing political performance.   

While not officially a circus venue, Jacksons Lane was certainly programming the political, counter-culture performance and events that the contemporary circus movement grew out of, as Charlie Holland describes in his UK history of Contemporary Circus:

“It is worth noting then that much of the contemporary circus has roots in the 1960s and 1970s counter-culture. This era saw the development of the women’s liberation, gay rights, peace, anti-racism and the environment movements, and a challenge to the consumerist, capitalistic society and the mass-media that represented it. Many theatre companies had a significant social agenda, wanting to express and realise political ideals and reach beyond the traditional theatre going public. There was a strong belief in being inclusive, in empowering communities, and in encouraging people to actively participate rather than solely spectate or consume. There were experimental cross-art performances, site-specific events, happenings and festivals.

Circus skills fitted right into this milieu; from stilt-walking Uncle Sam caricatures to multi-person club-passing representing what can be achieved through co-operation.” – UK Contemporary Circus History – Palace of Variety 

Uncle Sam stilt walking character

Scales of Justice stilt walking character

1990 – 2000’s

In January 1990, our “re-designed, sound-proofed theatre” opened with a performance from Ra Ra Zoo. This began our  ‘The Circus is Coming’ season, and crucially started our first community intergenerational circus group. The group then performed later that year on May 19th, 1990. From here-on in, Jacksons Lane becomes committed to programming contemporary circus, and making social circus activities part of its core activities.  

From the 2000s onwards, Jacksons Lane is programming all the recognisable contemporary circus groups, and enacting a real commitment to supporting emerging circus artists – it was in this decade we lay the groundwork for becoming the home of contemporary circus. In 2008, Ade Berry began as our Artistic Director, he tells us: 

“Since arriving at Jacksons Lane as Artistic Director in 2008, our circus programme has grown hugely, leading to us now being the UK’s leading venue for circus. Some real highlights come to mind – the development of our theatre into a state-of-the-arts space for rigging facilities, our new circus creation spaces, our support and production for circus at the Edinburgh Fringe – also including sponsoring the Jacksons Lane & Total Theatre Award for circus. Then there has been the international work for the London International Mime Festival, and following this 10 years’ of support for work from Finland and the Nordic countries.  Post- Brexit and COVID we expected this global strand to decrease, but far from it – now we are working with artists from Holland, Belgium, Australia, Spain the Baltic regions and looking to a Taiwan showcase in the future. It’s been an amazing journey that in our 50th year doesn’t look like its slowing down” 

In 2012 we extended our circus programme into our community, providing workshops and classes for young people throughout Haringey and Barnet.  This led to the formation of our Jacksons Lane Youth Circus who performed their first showcase Phases in 2014, they have since performed on our stage very year, with their latest showcase Looking Back to our Future celebrating the past 50 years of Jacksons Lane.  

A juggler in Looking Back to our Future.

We’re also thrilled to announce that during our Birthday Party Weekend, on 28th June 2025, we’ll be entertaining guests with a parade of contemporary Circus Talent directed by Kaveh Rahnama. Featuring artists from our colourful history, make sure you join us in celebrations and catch some stunning performances around the building and in our Birthday Cabaret show!