Circus – Live Art Alive

TESS

Written by Thomas Hardy

Adapted and Directed by Alex Harvey and Charlotte Mooney

HOME MCR

HOME plays host to a visceral, breathtaking reimagining of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles. This dreamy production quite literally soars in this genre-blending adaptation by Ockham’s Razor.

Gone is the pastoral restraint of traditional Hardy. Instead, we’re catapulted into a raw, kinetic world where spoken word collides with aerial spectacle, and physical theatre gives pulse to Tess’s inner life. With ropes, rigging, and a shape-shifting set by Tina Bicât that conjures both rural Dorset and Tess’s psychological terrain, this production is as visually inventive as it is emotionally brutal.

From the opening moments, where Tess’s body arcs through the air, we sense a young woman buffeted by forces far larger than herself – class, patriarchy and fate. The acrobatics aren’t just decorative but truly dramaturgical. Every lift, tumble, and suspension reveals something of her journey: the elation of love, the vertigo of injustice, the weight of grief.

Hardy’s 19th-century text is refracted through a contemporary lens, but not diluted. The themes of poverty, privilege, female agency, and the policing of desire all land with fresh urgency. There’s a fury simmering beneath the lyricism of the script which fuses Hardy’s own words with piercing modern clarity. There is a piercing moment on stage as Joshua Frazer as Alec D’Urberville spins imperiosly around Tess in a hoop like a giant gold wedding ring that is both stunning and chilling.

The cast are remarkable – muscular and tender, able to pivot from aerial feats to fragile, unspoken intimacies without ever breaking the spell. Here there are two perfomers as Tess. Hanora Kamen narrates her own story and invites the audience to watch as her tragic tale unfolds. Dance artist Lila Naruse ensures that Tess is heartbreakingly rendered: strong but vulnerable, caught in the ropes of her circumstances even as she fights to break free.

The staging is constantly surprising, using vertical space and movement to express what Hardy wrote between the lines: that the social systems around Tess are as confining as any physical trap. For creative team of Directors Alex Harvey and Charlotte Mooney this production is clearly a labour of love. They are ably supported by an exquisite soundscape from Holly Khan and dreamy video design by Daniel Denton. Nathan Johnson‘s choreography is just flawless and commands attention in a similar and intimate way to his work with Punchdrunk.

TESS is a triumph of theatrical innovation and emotional storytelling that speaks directly to a contemporary audience. The solidarity of women, the enduring effects of shame, and the quiet power of resistance are all threaded through the performance with care and urgency. Hardy purists may blink but even they’ll be moved by the sheer poetry of this production’s fall and flight.

HOME MCR 5th – 7th June 2025

WAKE

Beatbox, Cabaret, Circus, Dance, Gig Theatre, Large Theatres, Poetry, Uncategorized

Co-Created and Co-Directed by Jennifer Jennings and Phillip McMahon

Warehouse One, HOME MCR

Growing up Protestant in rural Northern Ireland I went to a lot of funerals. There were wakes with copious amounts of tea, cake and sandwiches and the odd drop of whisky or sherry. They were mostly restrained quiet affairs where your loss was acknowledged with a solemn handshake, a box of teabags or a tin of ham. I always had a sense that our Catholic neighbours had nailed the wake more as a celebration for the dead with music and booze usually leading to a good cèilidh. Apparently I was right and THISISPOPBABY are on the mainland showcasing the rites of the WAKE but with a few extra bells and whistles. My lovely Dad was seen to the grave with the lilt of bagpipes…as of last night I’m wishing we could redo his send-off with some accordions, the bodhrán and maybe an Irish dancer in a sequined g-string with buttock tassles and possibly a world champion pole dancer if the budget would stretch.

Jennifer Jennings and Phillip McMahon of Dublin based THISISPOPBABY have blended the traditional mourning rites with a high calibre camp burlesque show that includes aerial work, Irish dance, slam poetry, break dancing and pole dancing. The result is anarchic and playful rousing invitation to mourn our dead by celebrating life. The production has had several sell out run in Dublin before heading to Sadlers Wells and now Manchester. The Warehouse space is a ideal setting with a tiered stage for the musicians and the pole dancer whereas the circular second stage has a circus vibe and is used for the dance routines and the aerial work. The audience are seated to 3 sides of the circular stage so the sight lines are excellent.

Balloon dance from Wake.
Image credit: Ruth Medjber

THIS IS THE WAKE FOR EVERYONE THAT’S NEVER COMING BACK…

Felispeak is the Irish-Nigerian spoken word artist who weaves a story through the very varied performance styles. Her crisp dry drawl has a laconic charm and there is a real lyricism in her words that is reminiscent of some of our great Irish poets. Some performances burst on stage such as Colombian breakdancer Cristian Emmanuel Dirocie or the mind bending balloon dance by American competitive Irish dancer Michael Roberson and THISISPOPBABY stalwart Phillip Connaughton. Others have a gentler intro such as a beautiful aerial routine by Jenny Tuffs or the plaintive voice and accordian of Darren Roche from the band Moxie in the haunting Raglan Road.

The music here is a roller coaster soundtrack that encompasses traditional melodies and modern Irish classics like The Cranberries Ode To My Family delivered in a gorgeous performance by Emer Dineen. Peppered through these are Bronski Beat Small-town Boy used in a phenomenally confident performance by Michael Roberson. Eurythmics Sweet Dreams sees another striking clubland meets Irish dance while the Peggy Lee classic is rendered unforgettable by a hilariously cheeky performance by Phillip Connaughton.

This is a impressive production bringing together fourteen artists from very varied disciplines and showcases some stunning performances including Venezuelan Lisette Krol, who is a world champion pole dancer and a truly breathtaking performer. Most of all, WAKE is a celebration of how we choose to live while acknowledging death is all around us. In this only possible response is to be open to the joy and accepting of the pain of lost lives that were well lived. This life-affirming production feels like everyone has been on the poitín or Irish moonshine and this is a party for the dead that everyone should join.

AVIVA STUDIOS 17th – 21st April 2025

AFRIQUE EN CIRQUE

Circus, Large Theatres

KALABANTÉ PRODUCTIONS

The Hall, AVIVA STUDIOS

The latest extravaganza to mark the launch of Aviva Studios in the city is The Welcome a series of events curated by local people across Greater Manchester selected as part of The Assembly. Many of these events happening between the 11-19th November are free to the public and others are affordably priced. Afrique en Cirque celebrates everyday life in Western Africa as it zeroes in on coastal village life in Guinea. Devised by Montreal based circus Kalabanté Productions this is an unadulterated expression of joy and physical prowess that is at times as mind bending as it is literally body bending.

The staging of an African village looks invitingly beautiful and the lighting is gorgeous. Village huts are peopled by musicians while the front of the wide stage of The Hall lends itself perfectly to the endless series of tumbling routines that blend with tribal inspired dance, juggling, hoop and human pyramids that erupt on stage without anyone appearing to ever draw breath. This might be a show that casually started on African time but once it gets going it’s exuberance and high energy is unrelenting.

Afrique en Cirque. Image credit: Wendell Teodoro

Yamoussa Bangoura established this circus company in 2007 to celebrate African culture and circus. There are no high wires or safety equipment other than crash mats and the performers seem gleefully unbothered by the very real risks involved in much of their routines. One strides around with another performer casually standing on their head while the contortionist bends in ways that can have seemingly scant regard for their own body in 10 years time. The ensuing result is an extraordinary exhibition of human skill and endurance that also paints a vibrant image of village life. Routines are developed around market bartering, fishing expeditions and storytelling that all play out with colourful costume changes and live music from the live band. Afro jazz style music is performed with guitar and saxophone blending with traditional West African percussion and the beautiful kora.

There are some gorgeous moments such as the dreamy balletic hoop routine with the spinning cyr wheel. There is cheeky humour in a routine involving hard hats and a human pyramid that is an impudent nod to The Chippendales/ The Full Monty. The sheer athleticism and energy is invigorating and the performers are multi talented as they also take on some of the percussion and singing as well. The music and singing is utterly infectious and has numerous young children dancing in the aisles in this relaxed performance. The audience is involved and encouraged to engage in callbacks as we learn little bits of the Guinea dialect Susu…I now know that naani is four and suli is five thanks to a playful juggling routine.

This is a production that has played all over the world and in doing so is a reminder of what a rich and varied culture exists in Africa. It’s also a lovely reminder that communal joy and gasps of awe can be universal whether in Manchester, Manéah or Montreal.

The Hall, Aviva Studios 11 -15th November 2023

SWITCH + TIPPING POINT

Circus, Site Specific

Image from rehearsals for SWITCH

The cast of Switch in rehearsal

Tipping Point. Photo by Mark Dawson

Upper Campfield Market

Switch directed by Charlotte Mooney, Ockham’s Razor with Grania Pickard

Tipping Point directed by Charlotte Mooney and Tina Koch

For the latest performance in Contact’s In The City programme, the setting is the stunning Old Campfield Market. Switch is a brand new circus inspired work developed by young people from North Manchester with support from Ockham’s Razor who also perform their award-winning show Tipping Point.

It is a major creative challenge to work with non-circus trained young people to develop work that has its basis in the challenging and innovative style of Ockham’s Razor. Artistic Director Charlotte Mooney ensures there is a neat developmental flow between the two pieces.

Switch has nine individuals in constant poetic flux as they work with poles. Seemingly herding people like refugees, they connect and disconnect, teasing, tantalising and threatening. The identifiable conflicts reflecting intensely human experiences are always evoked with a playful quality and the light touch so characteristic of Ockham’s Razor. With a soundtrack by Bellatrix this new work has charm and style in abundance.

Tipping Point combines mayhem and mastery to create something breathtaking that evokes palpable terror and jaw-dropping awe. Huge poles swing and swirl at speed around this magical chalked circle as the aerial performers play Russian Roulette with their lives dodging and shape shifting on the ground and in the air. Playful and mercurial these highly skilled performers are incredible to observe. Like an ever moving sculpture of sleek poles and sinuous bodies this is a stunning spectacle of just how good modern, cutting edge circus theatre can be.

At Upper Campfield Market 15-19 August

Hot Brown Honey

Cabaret, Circus, Dance, Large Theatres

HOME

Briefs Factory presents Hot Brown Honey

Six vibrant First Nation women wearing identical shellsuits on a stage dominated by a huge gleaming, pulsating honeycomb hub. Our MC is Busty Beatz (Kim Bowers) a co-founder of Hot Brown Honey and she is loud and proud and magnificent towering above everyone astride the honey dome. Below is the other founder, Director and Choreographer Lisa Fa’alafi who I met briefly as I took my seat in the theatre. These women are chatty and welcoming as they stroll around the aisles before the show. They are upfront and direct, almost immediately the audience is told a collection toward their childcare will be passing through the aisles because as Lisa says The Revolution can not happen without childcare.

Suddenly the performance ramps up the energy. I can’t fully hear everything. I’m blinking as the lights flash powerfully on the honeycomb dome. The performers are hi octane and nothing is going to stop them. It’s too loud!! It’s too bright!!! It’s too……DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SET. WAKE UP. GET ON BOARD. ROCK THE BOAT. THIS MAY JUST BE THE TRIP OF YOUR LIFE.

There is zero tolerance of stereotyping as MC Beatz quotes from the 2009 TEDTalk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie The Danger of a Single Story. There are no single stories here and this is reinforced by a show that defies any genre. This is burlesque, cabaret, song, beatboxing, hip hop, poetry, hula hooping, aerial silks, sermon and comedy. This is an EVENT and like its orchestrators it cannot be pigeonholed.

This is an intelligent, passionate celebration of womankind in all its colours, shapes and creeds of politics, religion and sexuality. There is a strong burlesque influence running through all aspects of this show. This is burlesque as gender politics defying any attempts at body shaming. Women standing proud and celebrating perfect boobs, giant inflatable boulder boobs, pussies that may or may not have seen childbirth, giant padded feline pussies, bodies curvy or lean, skin that gleams or has cellulite or skin blemishes. Women using burlesque to own their own bodies using the frequent vivid costume changes to drive the stories. Fa’alafi describes the experience as the decolonisation of our thoughts and inhibitions. The poet and playwright Maya Angelou was also a burlesque dancer in her early years; and it a very powerful tool of expression and liberation.

There are group sequences ramming home the message We Are Not Maids. Shellsuits are shed to reveal cheeky Princess Megan t-shirts then shed again to reveal maid costumes. MC Beatz dons a massive Afro for the anthem Don’t Touch My Hair. Fa’alafi delights with a reverse striptease parodying the fantasies of bare breasted Polynesian maidens in grass skirts. This is no coy blushing maiden or unskilled island girl. Our Lisa is surrounded by leaves but deftly fashions shoes and bags like a fashion forward icon. The glorious voice of ‘Ofa Fotu rips apart the James Brown anthem It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World while she wears a stifling costume that clearly alludes to a golliwog doll. Elena Wangurra battles the confines of the Australian flag and triumphantly emerges as a superhero in the vivid colours of the Aboriginal flag. The beat box skills of Hope One pound through the speakers while Crystal Stacey spins hoola hoops with the dexterity that most women multi task. Domestic violence is portrayed in a way that is gut wrenchingly shocking. Crystal Stacey performance was my personal highlight as she escaped violent assault by using aerial silks. Her performance was exquisite and horrifying and incredibly poignant. Literally hanging by a thread this was a truly visceral evocation of desperation, determination and resilience. We do this for the Women who cannot speak. We are taught that silence will save us. But we will make noise.

The Speaker of this Hive asks Will you stay the same or rock the boat? The Hot Brown Honey mantra throughout this amazing show is DECOLONISE AND MOISTURISE or as Fa‘alafi says We want to decolonize the World , one stage at a time. The audience are on their feet dancing. The atmosphere is electric. The Party Manifesto is clear and this is one party you won’t want to miss.

HOME until Saturday 23rd Dec