SPECTACLE TO BEHOLD
TOM McKinnon swings back and forth on a double rope. As he gains momentum, hanging from the ceiling of the circus dome, he moves faster and faster. He readies himself and gracefully twirls around the rope, and lowering himself, he breathtakingly swings by his feet, up and down, across and sideways.
McKinnon is just one of a host of acts that – as the name of the circus he’s featured in denotes – will enchant audiences come Thursday, September 7, when the Enchanted Cirque opens its doors for a run of almost two months.
The circus itself is a spectacle to be feasted on, imported from Belgium and crafted and constructed by Belgian tent master Rik Klessens. It’s studded with a myriad reflective mirrors, that refract the light as it pours magically into the ring, creating a wonderland of colour and shining angles.
Brought to Cape Town by Showcasting, the circus is the brainchild of Sebastian Cassie and Michael Carrigan. Cassie, the executive producer, has lived in Sydney for 15 years and switched from being a lawyer to creating this forum for talented acts.
“There’s a difference between paid well as a lawyer and leaving one of the parties happy and the other unhappy and and between being creative and seeing the joy and wonder on someone’s faces for two hours when they get transported into another world,” he says, as we sit in the tent while rehearsals are under way.
“I came back after living in Sydney for all these years, and stepped onto the airport tarmac back home and thought instead of doing something ‘same, same’, why don’t we do something different where we can invest in this country. This is just the beginning.”
So he approached the City and procured one of the large parking lots adjacent to the Green Point stadium, where the circus is set up until the end of October. He and partner Carrigan have already been involved in producing a string of circus shows, musical theatre and stage shows and, says Cassie, have brought in some top international acts, to provide a “wonderful mix of top talent”. They plan to establish their head office for their brand of entertainment in this country.
“The philosophy is to get as many performers from as many countries as possible. This is such a beautiful platform,” he says.
Similar to the old Madame Zingara, under the big top there’ll be gourmet sustenance to fuel up audiences as they watch the acts – a VIP bar, an oyster and bubbly booth and Cassie says, they have employed the services of catering company Ginger & Lime, who will make a range of sharing platters as well as tapas servings –anything from a “local is lekker” South African plate with biltong, samoosas and a mini potjie, to a cheese and charcuterie plate. All served by a band of roving waiters who will move between the tables.
Aside from McKinnon, I was also treated to a sneak preview by bubble magic man Thomas Favaro. He does amazing things with bubbles, blowing them out of a large ring and creating shapes and breaking them up into smaller bubbles and they dance gently in front of him. “Mesmerised” would be about the right word to use as you watch this simple, deceptively childlike, but highly skilled act. He also sets light to his bubbles in a dramatic flourish. The young man and I chat in a mix of broken English and my very basic Italian to understand each other. Favaro comes from a small town near Florence and was trained by one of Italy’s first bubble masters nine years ago. “The bubble lives. It feels your pain. You have to create your own personal formula and find your own solution for making it look the way you want. How you blow the ring once you have dipped it into the soapy formula is what determines its shape and size,” he says.
He says the art of entertaining children and adults with bubbles is a growing art and somehow it appeals to audiences who see the beauty and almost mystical quality of it.
Favaro is also the circus’s laser man. “With the laser I play with light and am looking like a robo cop; with the bubbles I create poetic magic.”
Audiences can also look forward to a crossbow contortionist, and silk artist Orissa Kelly, while funny lady Mel Jones and Piky Pokus from Argentina will host the show.
The show opens on September 7 and continues to mid-October on the P3 parking in Green Point in front of the Cape Town Stadium. Performances are at 8pm from Wednesdays to Fridays, at 3pm and 8pm on Saturdays and at 5pm on Sundays. Tickets cost R250. For details, call 074 422 2888, or visit EnchantedCirque.com