Full steam ahead for Circus Oz
KEN LONGWORTHfrom: www.theherald.com.au
26 Sep, 2011
CIRCUS Oz has gone back to the future for its latest show, Steampowered, with the male performers in leather uniforms with wide buckled belts and the women in tightly laced corsets.That, at least, is how the audience sees the show.
As artistic director Mike Finch pointed out, buckled belts could be dangerous when people were performing hair-raising trapeze acts and tight corsets would certainly restrict dexterity.
“The buckles and the corsets are actually made of soft material,” he said.
The look of Steampowered, which is at Newcastle’s Civic Theatre from October 6 to 8, was suggested by Melbourne designer Darryl Cordell.
“He asked if we knew anything about steampunk,” Finch said.
Steampunk is a science-fiction strand that shows contemporary technology in use in past eras.
So, in a reversal of the stories of writers like H.G. Wells, who transferred people from the 19th century into the future, Steampowered has its hip 21st century circus acts performed in a pre-petrol Victorian setting, with men in overalls controlling steam-operated devices, including rosewood-cased computers.
The show’s opening musical number is performed by cast members playing brass instruments, which, said Finch, was a “very steampunk image”.
Circus Oz has won an international reputation for its re-invention of circus performance since it was founded 33 years ago.read more at:http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/entertainment/full-steam-ahead-for-circus-oz/2302176.aspx
As artistic director Mike Finch pointed out, buckled belts could be dangerous when people were performing hair-raising trapeze acts and tight corsets would certainly restrict dexterity.
“The buckles and the corsets are actually made of soft material,” he said.
The look of Steampowered, which is at Newcastle’s Civic Theatre from October 6 to 8, was suggested by Melbourne designer Darryl Cordell.
“He asked if we knew anything about steampunk,” Finch said.
Steampunk is a science-fiction strand that shows contemporary technology in use in past eras.
So, in a reversal of the stories of writers like H.G. Wells, who transferred people from the 19th century into the future, Steampowered has its hip 21st century circus acts performed in a pre-petrol Victorian setting, with men in overalls controlling steam-operated devices, including rosewood-cased computers.
The show’s opening musical number is performed by cast members playing brass instruments, which, said Finch, was a “very steampunk image”.
Circus Oz has won an international reputation for its re-invention of circus performance since it was founded 33 years ago.read more at:http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/entertainment/full-steam-ahead-for-circus-oz/2302176.aspx
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