Circus / Circus City Bristol
Bristol Circus City 2023 programme launched
Bristol’s biannual Circus City is back in 2023, with three weeks of world-class contemporary circus running from October 1-22.
Artistic director Nicole A’Court Stuart introduced this year’s programme – dubbed The Outsider Edition – highlighting the common thread underpinning its varied elements.
“Each presents an opportunity for a reimagining of the familiar, human, scientific, physical, seen in a new light, as if with the eyes of an outsider,” she says.
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Participating venues in the three week festival range from Circomedia and Unit 15 to Tortworth Arboretum, Arnolfini, The Wardrobe Theatre, 1532 Theatre and the Redgrave Theatre.
And in a rich and varied programme of physical storytelling, spectacle, research-driven performance-making, punk gig-circus and queer, neurodiverse and black-led solo shows, there’s something for everyone, too.
Ockham’s Razor and Turtle Key Arts present ‘Tess’
Having marked the official launch of this year’s Circus City with two free outdoor performances of their site-responsive show PUBLIC, Ockham’s Razor will be bringing their pioneering circus adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Tess – to the festival.
Genre-defying queer performance maker Laura Murphy presents A Spectacle of Herself, blending autobiography, lip-sync, video and aerial rope in a show directed by Ursula Martinez, original cast member of the Olivier Award-winning La Soiree cabaret, La Clique.
Laura Murphy, ‘A Spectacle of Herself’
Finnish company Muovipussi will be performing their eclectic debut full-length show Noise Juice, a fusion of music, circus, theatre and illusion featuring “grandmas, Barbies, and growling metalheads”.
For younger people and their families, highlights include Tit for Tat’s BOOKS!, which includes a post-show stay-and-play, Whispering Woods & the Murmuration Choir’s forest-based The Shape of Belonging, and Can’t Sit Still’s crowd-pleasing Oh No George!, based on the beloved Chris Haughton picture book.
Muovipussi, ‘Noise Juice’
Work-in-progress performances at Circus City will come from Volt – a dedicated night showing new work from regional artists, and from experimental emerging artists, Ruby and Charles, who will be presenting a night of alternative comedy and circus theatre.
Accompanying the live shows, the festival will benefit from a programme of ancillary talks, workshops, films and industry events.
Circus City will be at venues across Bristol from October 1-22. The full programme is available at www.bristolcircuscity.com.
All photos: Bristol Circus City
Read more: Free performances from Ockham’s Razor will celebrate Circus City 2023 programme launch
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