THE BALLOON MAN

Bristol Old Vic collaborates with the Invisible Circus on Under The Dark Moon

Under The Dark Moon, a collaboration between the Bristol Old Vic and the Invisible Circus, comes to the city this week

From: bristolpost.co.uk

By Venue

March 28, 2014

They may be used to high-flying acrobatics, but The Invisible Circus is taking a bold leap into the unknown with Bristol Old Vic.

In the first collaboration of its kind, Bristol Old Vic is helping the ground-breaking and popular Bristol company, The Invisible Circus transform their successful circus show Under The Dark Moon into a full-scale touring theatre production.

Based in Bristol since 2002, the Invisible Circus draws much of its approach from its history as a troupe of travelling street performers and has grown to produce unique circus theatre in a variety of unusual locations.

As the company has developed and evolved, it has attracted more and more creative impetus, drawing a diverse range of visual artists, performers, actors, directors, dancers, filmmakers, choreographers, musicians and technicians to collaborate on its productions.

Its most recent production, Under The Dark Moon at Creative Common's inaugural Bristol Circus Festival last year, was a bold statement of intent which was rewarded with a sell-out run.

The show took inspiration from the dreams and fears of its artists, creating a performance that drew on the darker side of fairy tales and twisted the idea of a circus freak show.

Mixing spectacular circus techniques, eerie old movie footage and a live musical score, the hauntingly beautiful and technically impressive show received phenomenal reactions and outstanding reviews.

Now, with close support from Bristol Old Vic's artistic director Tom Morris and the technical team at Bristol Old Vic, they plan to raise the theatricality and scope of their performances even higher.

Doug Francis, director of The Invisible Circus, said: "Under The Dark Moon was previously created in three weeks on a shoestring budget.

"It ran over five nights in 2013 to a sell-out crowd and had a phenomenal response, but we knew there was a lot more we could do with the show.

"With the support of Bristol Old Vic we have the opportunity to work with internationally respected directors and producers to create a brilliant show."

Moving from big top to theatre stage, The Invisible Circus will perform the re-vamped Under The Dark Moon in the Bristol Old Vic's Main Theatre for three nights next week, before a UK tour.

Tom Morris, artistic director of Bristol Old Vic, said: "This extraordinary company employ a huge range of industrious and creative artists to produce imaginative work that is unlike anything else on the Bristol scene.

Read more: http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Circus-thrills-big-theatre-stage/story-20877149-detail/story.html#ixzz2xH2gZNTa