The ‘feast’ of circus coming to your city
In New York, they called it ‘‘mesmerising’’. In Tel Aviv, it was ‘‘charming’’. In Edinburgh, the acts were ‘‘never less than spectacular’’. In Sydney, a ‘‘feast of modern circus’’.
Cirkopolis seems to impress no matter where in the world it goes. The circus show, by Montrealbased company Cirque Eloize, debuted in Helsinki, Finland, in 2012.
Since then, the company has done more than 600 shows, taking in 200 cities in 20 countries. New Zealand is the latest nation they’re visiting. Englishman Ashley Carr is one of 12 cast members travelling to New Zealand with the show. Like all the Cirkopolis performers, Carr’s talents stretch across several circus arts disciplines.
His background is as a juggler, but at circus school in Montreal he studied acrobatics. He’s worked with Cirque Eloize for a decade, and five years ago was involved in creating Cirkopolis. His role in the show is closest to clowning, he says.
When I speak to Carr, he’s jumping into a taxi in Paris, where Cirkopolis is performing. It’s the end of a double-show day and he’s off to get something to eat. He’s physically tired, but still pumped from his time on stage.
It’s rare for Carr to be eating alone on tour. He spends more time with his castmates, he says, than his family.
‘‘In the last 10 years on tour, I haven’t been there for one family Christmas, it’s always with these guys,’’ he says.
‘‘We’re working together, we’re travelling together, we’re eating together. We have a lot of physicality, there’s a lot of trust involved in what we do. You’ve pretty much got lives in each others’ hands.
‘‘So all of that and you can’t help but have a good relationship with people. You need a bit of time away also, you need a bit of distance. But we’re all in the same boat, we’re all following the same passion.’’
When Carr does have time to visit family, it can involve a trip to New Zealand. His father has farmed deer near Geraldine, South Canterbury, for the past 30 years.
‘‘It’s a long way for me to go to visit, but I get over there sometimes and it’s great to go over there and play in his backyard,’’ Carr says.
Cirkopolis is inspired by Fritz Lang’s 1927 film Metropolis, which is set in a dystopian future city. Metropolis informs the show’s visuals, with characters donning grey jumpsuits and images of cogs, gears and concrete gears inspired by Soviet propaganda projected onto the stage.
Cirkopolis doesn’t tell a linear story, but rather presents a series of vignettes, with characters escaping the drudgery of their everyday lives through movement, passion and colour.
‘‘It’s a visual feast with regards to the acrobats on stage. They’re immensely talented, and it’s incredible stuff that the 12 of us do, whether it’s juggling, acrobatics, hand-to-hand, trapeze,’’ Carr says.
‘‘There’s a lot of different disciplines, group members, people that are multi-talented. They’ll do one number, go backstage, get changed, then do a completely different number that’s not their major discipline.’’
Carr says the show is good for all ages, with kids sure to be impressed by some of the acrobatics on offer.
‘‘It’s a mixture of the wow factor, of, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t believe they can do that’, to the more poetic side, to the more humouristic side. We pretty much touch most of the bases, and because of that it’s something that will appeal to someone who is five or 85 years old.’’
‘‘It’s a family experience... Afterwards, the kids are running around in the lobby doing cartwheels, smiles on their faces. We give a lot and we get a lot back from the public.’’
Cirkopolishas played to raucous, vocal crowds in Brazil and more reserved audiences in Paris. Wherever they go, the performance breaks down boundaries with the audience.
‘‘It would be hard not to find something that you really like in it,’’ Carr says. ❚ Cirkopolis plays Christchurch’s Isaac Theatre Royal from November 14 to 19, Dunedin’s Regent Theatre from November 23 to 26, Wellington’s St James Theatre from December 1 to 3, and Auckland’s Civic Theatre from December 5 to 10.