Motionhouse is known for bringing its unique fusion of dance and circus to large-scale, bespoke entertainment. You might have seen them perform at festivals or at major events such as the opening show of Birmingham 2022 Festival or the National Lottery’s Big Eurovision Welcome event in Liverpool.

This new show, created for an indoor theatre space, has the same big-event feel, placing their performers in a space which combines multiple moving objects, fast-paced film projection and an absorbing soundscape.

The show, created by Finnan together with the company’s associate director Daniel Massarella and the dancers, is an artistic and physical response to society’s increasing polarisation and the crises populations face globally from natural disasters like wildfires and floods.

As Finnan explains in the programme notes: ‘The best of humanity is when we put the needs of others before our own’ and this forms the narrative arc for the show as the dancers follow a path from isolated darkness, eventually working together towards the light.

Act One ‘Decent into Darkness’ opens onto a frenetic, fast-moving world where dancers move around a blur of faces among London streets, transport, buildings and rooftops.

Simon Dormon’s fluid set sees the city projected onto a main backdrop and two 3D triangular wedge shapes which the dancers move and weave between taking us from a gamer’s bedroom to a city park to the rush of the Underground. The result feels like watching a series of video shorts, almost like dance for a Tik Tok generation.

There is so much to see that it is hard to believe they are creating this with only 7 dancers, who are such a phenomenal ensemble that they all deserve mention – Olly Bell, Llewelyn Brown, Dylan Davies, Alex Macnab, Blair Moore, Sophie O’Leary and Beth Pattison.

The circus skills come to the fore as the set moves to a series of geometric shapes, where two dancers battle to free themselves from a prison of plastic wrapping. This aspect feels unlike anything I’ve seen before.

Act Two ‘Finding the Light’ follows a clearer narrative. There is a much calmer feel to it, although the dancing and circus skills on display are no less impressive. Here the two triangles are transformed into a 4m high, 45-degree ramp which becomes a metaphor for the heights dancers need to scale to reach the light. They can only do this together in what becomes an emotionally moving scene of strength and trust.

We are left with a feeling of amazement at how these young dancers trust that they will be caught when they fall; trust the strength of the dancer on whose shoulders they stand, and trust as they form a human ladder that those who scale it are not going to lean on a part of their body to cause pain. It is an incredible spectacle of community, support and courage that leaves us with a feeling of hope in humanity. In what feels like an increasingly divided world Motionhouse has given us something wonderful.

Motionhouse Hidden was at Lowry, Salford on 30 January 2026 before continuing on tour.

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The show, which brings together agility, acrobatics, dance, digital projection and a shape-shifting set, is the Warwickshire-based company’s most ambitious theatre production so far – and, say the team, audiences have been responding brilliantly to its jaw-dropping feats and its important message.

Created by Motionhouse co-founder and artistic director Kevin Finnan together with the company’s associate director Daniel Massarella and the dancers, Hidden explores our sense of shared humanity and how, even in the darkest of times, people will come together to support each other.

“The reaction from audiences has been quite overwhelming,” Daniel says. “We’ve had standing ovations at every venue. When a work is being created you think it’s going in the right direction but it’s only when it’s in front of an audience that you really get to see its success.

“What is great about the work is that it’s not one-dimensional. You can take away from it however you are feeling on that day, or whatever has come out in the press or has happened in the world at that point.

“Hidden strips people back to their basic humanity, when all we have is each other and that’s the only way we can get through life’s challenges.”

The show makes bold use of projection, with performers interacting with moving images of land and cityscapes, speeding trains and digital screens.

“It’s the first time we’ve used this amount of projection and people are blown away by that,” says Daniel. “People are also blown away by the skill level of the company, it’s one of the ‘danciest’ shows we’ve done, integrated with the highest level of circus. So there’s something for everyone – some people like the digital, the gaming and the more cinematic experience and the more emotional people like that emotional draw, that it makes you feel something.”

Kevin was inspired to create Hidden after watching international catastrophes including floods, wildfires and war and seeing that with every disaster there is also resilience through human connection and kindness.

“Hidden is a show about us,” Kevin explains. “There are things that are very dark moments for people all around the world. And as well as this, within our own lives everyone encounters moments that are really truly dark.

“But then Hidden is the thing that comes through in the darkest moments – it is when people can be at their very best and come to work together and to be together. So, rather than worrying about ‘us’ and ‘them’, we help each other and support each other.

“As well as the darkness, we are seeing that element of support that is so often hidden – and we need to celebrate that and celebrate humanity and the very good people we can all be.”

Founded in 1988 and based in Leamington Spa, Motionhouse has built up a reputation for breathtaking outdoor spectacle and imaginative indoor productions. These visual and physical effects are the company’s way of telling its stories.

“When I make a show, all of the flying and the film, what that’s there for is to engage and make the show entertaining to a wide range of people,” Kevin explains. “But the reason to make the show is to connect with people as best we can.

“When someone comes up to me in tears and says ‘that moved me more than I’ve been moved in a long time’, even if it’s just one person on the tour, that’s the point. The fact that we are getting that in most venues on this tour is the whole point of everything we do.

“You come to the theatre to be together with the artists and share the experience and then hopefully after the show the audience will take something away. For me the most important thing is saying we are not alone and you can communicate – that is what we should all be doing.”

And the company promises there will be thrills for people familiar with Motionhouse and for those for whom Hidden is their first experience of the company.

“It’s not a dance show, it’s not a circus show, it’s not a film show. It’s combining all of those art forms. It’s like having a smoothie with very different flavours which ultimately makes a very nice cocktail.” says Daniel.

“When you come in having seen what we do before there is definitely a pressure and expectation there, especially for Kevin, because you always have to be better than your last show. But we did it, and the audience response speaks volumes for that.”

The team are looking forward to bringing the show to The Lowry in Salford

“The 2026 tour kicks off at the Lowry in Manchester in January,” Daniel says. “We’ve never been on the main stage of the Lowry before so we’re really excited about that.”

Hidden has already built up a strong reputation and has bookings into 2028 and Kevin promises all audiences are in for a treat.

“If you come and see any of our shows you will see a tremendous burst of exciting energy on the stage, you will see phenomenal dancers doing incredible things. It will be dynamic – there will be people flying through the air and all sorts of physical wonders and spectacle.

“Hidden is beautiful as well as powerful, engaging and fun. When you come away you will have had a wonderful evening where you have seen things that moved your heart and you will have seen things that made you joyful about who we are and what we can be.”

Hidden is at Lowry, Salford on Friday 30 January 2026 before continuing on tour.

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Now wrapping up the final week of rehearsals, award-winning performer and activist, Sadiq Ali is feeling the excitement – and not just because the six-inch pleaser heels finally came in. His latest show, Tell Me, is set to premiere at Lowry in January – a surreal, time-bending blend of circus and theatre, he is as excited about the “gorgeous” crew working alongside him as he is about swinging above the crowds in aerial cubes. Hearing of an upcoming Quays Life review, he feigns a shout of terror – then, with a grin, picks up an invisible pen: “It’s a five-star sellout show!”

Sadiq Ali – an openly queer, mixed-heritage circus performer and activist – is a showman through and through. His graduation from the National Centre for Circus Arts saw his debut show – The Chosen Haram – premiere to critical acclaim across the UK and abroad. From there, he kept a steady presence on the international Cabaret and Burlesque circuits, represented the UK for Mr Gay World, and became a leading campaigner alongside the Terrence Higgins Trust and others.

Before all of it, he says, his family had feared he was about to die.

“I told my family that I’d been diagnosed with HIV,” he says, “and this was in 2014. The response from my sister… she broke down. She started crying. She thought I’d be dead within months.”

Sadiq can in many ways speak better than most about HIV in performance – he’s lived it. News of his diagnosis spread in his first year of university, and his classmates began to distance themselves, something he chalks down to a fear of catching HIV. “They’ve learned with me, and I’m not slating them,” he says. “But it was f****ing embarrassing.

“I had to disinfect every single mat that I stretched on or touched in case of the virus – I was being treated like a leper because of outdated knowledge. But the university worked with me to update it, like, ‘what should this [policy] actually be?’. And they were like, ‘nothing, obviously’.”

His final performance, ‘The Chosen Haram’, came as something of a catharsis, and would later win him the Unforgettable Performance Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. A queer, Muslim love story that belies a foray into chemsex parties and self-destruction, the show was almost censored entirely. “The school wouldn’t publicly show it because of the fear around broaching the subject, and there were a lot of politics at play there.

“[Part of it] was because it was about Islam, and even though it was a piece of personal experience about trying to come out within a faith structure, there was that white fear about doing it wrong – which I do understand. I didn’t realise at the time that doing something like that, about my own life experience, was potentially censorable.”

The show went ahead, and Sadiq found himself leaving with more than just the best grade he’d ever had. In the final performance, an old injury had split open, spraying the studio with blood as he spun by his neck five metres in the air. In a far cry from the days of classmates “freaking out” over sharing a beer, “it was those same kids who came together and started clearing up my blood.

“They put me in a shower and patched me up without any hesitation at all, and I realised that I’d accidentally made a ton of allies by just being open and asking people to learn alongside me rather than in silence. And I think that’s one of the reasons for making [Tell Me]: to try and distil that creating of allies through shared humanity and knowledge, and distil that into an hour show that removes fear from people.”

Set to premiere in the new year, ‘Tell Me’ promises to be a fusion of dance, circus, and drama, swirling time between a woman’s past and present selves to reflect on, as Sadiq says, “The thoughts and reflections of them [both] that help her come to terms and look at what the future might look like.

“I think a woman’s story within the HIV narrative is often quite invisible, and their struggles are different, in terms of sexual shame or stigma. But that’s why I’ve been working with people from Positive UK, which was founded as a charity for women living with HIV.

“I love all the work that’s out there, like ‘It’s a Sin’ and ‘Pose’, but I feel like a lot of it leaves us in the horror of it all – I want to give a little bit of celebration and love and hope, and see a woman be able to have everything.”

It will feature Sadiq and fellow performers Junior Cunningham and Phoebe Knight performing on the ground and above in three aerial cubes, not just as a love letter to those lost in HIV’s past and present, but in part to the mother of one of Tell Me’s choreography consultants, Jonathan Lunn.

Talking about it, Sadiq’s gaze travels upwards in thought and stays there, and there’s a sudden heaviness to his voice that wasn’t quite there before. “He wouldn’t mind me saying his brother passed away from HIV and Aids-related complications,” he says slowly. “And he found a number of letters from his brother to their mum, at the time. And we read them in the room, and they’ve become part of the soundscape of the show. It’s a tiny little experience of the emotion of a then and a now.

“There’s members of the team who’ve got things going on in their lives that are not HIV, but which are so close to some of the connecting things we’re discussing and exploring that I’ve found the drive and power in what [Tell Me] can do for other people, in bringing us together,” he continues.

“With my HIV and work in the past, I have no shame around it. I’ve had pictures on the backs of buses and Tube maps and the campaigns were everywhere around London for a while, and I thought nothing of it. And the reason I can think nothing of it is because of where we are now.

“I start to look at the future where we have a potential for a cure, or for a vaccination that is yearly or six-monthly instead of every day, and then I hear about the turn of our politics and I’m looking at a future that could potentially look more like our past. It feels like a pivotal moment where we could choose to forget our past and end up returning to something that we should never return to. That we can’t return to.

“’The Chosen Haram’ was me going, ‘I’m queer and this is my life’. And this one’s been more of a slow burner about the world feeling really separated at the moment, and the catharsis of seeing me connect with someone who must be in their late 60s or early 70s and hold each other and cry while we read a letter.

“There’s a power in the kind of work we’re doing,” he says. “I just want people to walk away having just that little, tiny bit of their life changed in a way that they might take a beat longer for a stranger in the street.”

Tell Me is at Lowry, Salford on 16 and 17 January 2026.

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“It’s dynamic, it takes you on a journey, we make you laugh, and we make you cry, then we make you shocked and have a moment of wonder.”

Carnesky is a pioneer in British performance art, her award winning career has spanned over two decades, her live performances have been appreciated and lauded by critics and audiences alike worldwide. As well as her live performances she has long been involved in the education and tutelage of young people who wish to be in the industry. She currently works as a Programme Director for a Contemporary and Popular Performance course at Rose Bruford College and is on the road with her latest production ‘SHOWWOMEN’ which sees her collaborate with Veronica Thompson (Fancy Chance), Livia Kojo Alour and Lucifire.

“We’re not making a play with characters where we’re playing other people. We’re playing ourselves, and then exploring through our skills, and through the stories of people in the past themes about what it is to be a woman,” Marisa tells me. Her work has long centred around themes of womanhood, from her first full-length solo show, ‘Jewess Tattooess’ to her more recent offering ‘Dr Carnesky’s Incredible Bleeding Woman’ but this looks to be the jewel in her crown as she tackles the subject in the very industry she had such a hand in growing.

“We kind of created this culture, the whole generation of us coming out of the 90’s brought this kind of visual cabaret and movement based cabaret into the mainstream.

“When I graduated, there wasn’t really much of a cabaret scene in the UK at the time, there wasn’t the culture that we have now, the burlesque and circus culture. There wasn’t a lot of places where you could do visual performing if you weren’t a stand-up comic. Trying to make a living was really hard, I was performing in nightclubs and then working a little bit in theatre freelancing.”

These times speak to a true passion for her craft as she persevered without the promise of a stable income in a market that was small at best, the familiar tale of the artist struggling to stay afloat doing what they truly love is as relevant as ever and as with many of these stories, adaptability is paramount. Marisa tells me this a trait that she shares with most of her counterparts, “I think people don’t realise that we all move between genres. We all kind of found our way doing a bit of theatre, doing a bit cabaret, doing a bit of Burlesque, a bit of comedy, a bit of teaching. It all crosses over, you have to be a jack of many trades.”

As well as adaptability this is a culture that promotes diversity, camaraderie and community and this is reflected in the team that has helped SHOWWOMEN come to life, “I have my biological family, but my circus family, my performance family are also really important to me. In a way they’re family too, the women in this show, we’ve been working together for nearly 20 years in festivals and different shows, we didn’t meet yesterday, we have shared stories, and we look out for each other.” Marisa believes that this level of collaboration between women could be a reflection of something much bigger. “Under patriarchy, traditionally we’re lead in a culture which is often about division. And perhaps matriarchy would be more about inclusion, a more collaborative sense of spectacle.

“If P.T. Barnum was a spectacular patriarch, then what would a spectacular matriarch be? Who would she be and what would she bring to the culture and to the community?”

The idea behind SHOWWOMEN seems to be about controlling the narrative, asking questions, and trying to come up with answers for them. There is a desire to flip the script, it is that sentiment that the name for the show itself is derived from. “We’re kind of saying that that nobody is a show girl if they’re over 18. The phrase is used to sexualise women into this identity of the girl, and I mean a lot of performers love it, there’s a kind of romance to the show girl, but we’re saying as we move into our 40s and 50s, we might need to change the script,” Marisa tells me passionately. “We’re show women, we’re actually now the ones running the businesses, we can do all these extraordinary skills and performances for as long as we want to. And yes, we might still be sexual, but in a more self-possessed way, where it’s less about us being in a line-up of identical bodies and It’s more about us having a voice, being great theatre makers or having great abilities to make spectacular performances.”

This piece looks to serve as more than mere entertainment and this shouldn’t come as a surprise as the brainchild of someone who is not a mere entertainer. The show has its inspirations in Marisa’s punk, anarchic spirit, and political performance art of the past. So often in her work the questions arise of why couldn’t I and why shouldn’t I marry, under the umbrella of what if I do? There’s the hope that the answer points to a level of social change and the questions raised in this piece are no different. “In my mother’s generation you kind of disappeared as you got older,” Marisa adds. “This is about saying, what is the midlife woman? What does she do on stage and what does she represent? I think it’s really important that women with physicality are still out there being physical in midlife. Let’s find out what that’s like, let’s give it a go, because I’m not getting off the stage. Why should I?”

Showwomen is at The Lowry on 16 March 2024. Age guidance 16+

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This multi-sensory extravaganza, titled “Afrique en Cirque,” celebrates African culture with the vibrancy of youth, joy, and the diaspora, while inviting the audience to join them on an unforgettable journey inspired by daily life in Guinea.

The circus is on for four nights as one of the paid highlights of the venue’s Welcome programme. The Welcome, a two-year project led by 22 representatives from different boroughs of Manchester and curated by Factory Assembly, aimed to reflect the rich tapestry of Manchester’s communities and bring forth a unique cultural experience for all.

Most of the activities are free which means you can enjoy a full day of festivities, including music, delectable cuisine, and a range of engaging activities such as creating your own art work to add to Leeroy New’s ‘Balete Spacecraft’ sculpture.

It feels like the venue could well be a spacecraft because once inside Afrique en Cirque, bursting with colourful costumes and stunning scenery, transports us to another continent for a night filled with joy, unity, and inspiration.

The performance features mesmerising live Afrojazz music and traditional West African instruments, from soul-stirring percussion to the enchanting sounds of the kora. Through breathtaking acrobatics, the talented performers paint vivid pictures of life in Guinea, captivating the audience from start to finish.

What sets Afrique en Cirque apart is its ability to establish an intimate connection with the audience. Laughter and beautiful sounds bridge the gap between performers and spectators, making everyone feel like an integral part of the show. As an audience member you’ll find yourself not simply a passive observer but an active participant in this immersive experience.

The lighting design adds to the enchantment, casting a spell that leaves the audience in a trance. The interplay of light and shadows adds depth to the storytelling and heightens the emotional impact of the performance.

The Welcome invites everyone to explore their creativity, emphasising that creativity resides within each person; it only needs to be discovered. In a world filled with diversity and unique perspectives, Afrique en Cirque serves as a reminder that the beauty of culture and creativity lies in its ability to unite us all.

In this sense, Afrique en Cirque at Aviva Studios is more than just a circus performance — it is a celebration of culture, a fusion of talents, and an invitation to explore the boundless possibilities of human creativity.

Afrique en Cirque is at The Hall, Aviva Studios from 11-15 November 2023 as part of The Welcome a cultural, community celebration from 11-19 Nov for the opening of the new space. Visit the website for the full programme of events.

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Emerging begins its UK tour at the Lowry on Friday 7 and Saturday 8 October 2022, before a nationwide tour culminating with a performance at the London International Mime Festival 2023.

Co-commissioned by The Lowry and the London International Mime Festival, this unique
show centres on the relationship between transgender son, Naissa and his mother Daniela, as they journey together through a complex life changing process.

The Lowry’s Head of Theatre Operations, Steve Cowton chats to Scarabeus’ Daniela Essart and Naissa Essart Nielson about this very personal piece of theatre, and it’s evolution to the stage.

The Lowry has been involved in this project since the very beginning and we’re delighted to be presenting the World Premiere. Obviously this is a very personal story for you and your family – why did you decide that you wanted to present this as a theatre show?

Daniela: “Emerging is an act of courage. We want this story to be a vehicle for advocacy and acceptance. We feel very strongly the role of culture is to shed light on pivotal subjects and issues of our time. It’s important to do it sensitively and intelligently. Aerial and visual theatre is the language we know best.”

What is it about aerial theatre – and circus in general – that makes it such a good medium to share your stories and your feelings?

Daniela: “Because aerial theatre and dance use a visceral language that gets under the audience’s skin. It is an extreme language, that transform the ordinary in extra-ordinary, the intimate into the epic. We have very carefully chosen and designed the aerial apparatus we use in this performance, they serve the story and the imagery we aim to convey to our audience.

“The space changes nearly at every scene, the two riggers who are on stage with the performers, silently help in transforming the space. The performance space is created within a 6 by 6 metres box truss structure. An empty stage, inhabited scene by scene by the characters and the imagery they create with their body artistry on the floor and in the air, interacting with their bespoke aerial equipment. A suspended cocoon is the set for a birth scene. A character exploding in a bungee solo, leaping in the air, then recoiling on the floor, becomes a representation of internal turmoil and conflict.

“Three big suspend hoops, woven with rope, illustrate for the audience the ‘going around in circles’ of difficult conversations. Only on the very last scene, the performance space is entirely taken by a huge net, representing a web of life, where our characters’ journey suspended above the audience. The space is also layered with projections, a delicate lighting design and an emotionally charged soundtrack, which transport the audience in a heterogeneous visual and aural landscape.”

What can the audience expect to see on stage – and who do you think would most enjoy the show?

Daniela: “A multimedia performance involving physical theatre and dance combined with aerial skills. Emerging is layered with visual and metaphorical landscapes, created by juxtaposing live performance, text, designed video projections and a bespoke commissioned soundtrack.”

Naissa: “Emerging is an exploration of the dialogue between a mother and a young transgender person, how they inevitably have to navigate the transition in their own ways. It also explores how they have to find ways for the pain not to outweigh the love between them. It is a representation of the true dialogue that went between us, via the letters we wrote to each other over the first three years of my transition.”

Some parts of the show are based on the letters you and Naissa wrote to each other – it’s an incredibly intimate exploration of your relationship. Ultimately it celebrates the love between a mother and her child – how does it feel to be sharing the same stage together? Are you still speaking to each other?

Daniela: “We made the decision to be inspired and share extracts from the real letters we wrote to each other during the last three years. As the artistic director, Iworked very hard with my dramaturg mentor Tessa Walker, in choosing the most significant of these letters, and to edit them to their very essence. Naissa has collaborated in the choice. These letters where never written for the stage, but because of that, they are poignant and draw the audience into a very intimate space.”

Naissa: “In the first three years after I came out, we wrote letters to each other to express ourselves as a way of avoiding conflict and being misunderstood. We discovered that in mainstream media the reaction to trans people is very binary; acceptance or rejection. Our communication felt a lot more nuanced than this and more complex, not a straightforward acceptance but not a rejection either. It feels important to be able to portray that full complexity of this journey.

“And of course we are in speaking terms with each other, otherwise how would we be able to do what we do on stage, which requites a great deal of trust and communication!”

What do you hope people who see the show will take away with them?

Daniela: “We hope the audience will have an emotional connection with the characters and the story. If they have experienced a journey similar to ours, I hope they’ll feel well represented. If they didn’t know much about the complexities of gender identity and diversity, I wish they will feel more knowledgeable and inclined to become allies”.

Naissa: “I want audiences, trans or not, to be able to find some relation to the material, some empathy for our story. Change and acceptance are part of every relationship. Seeing Emerging I hope it illustrates the trans experience and journey, as something we can all find to relate with and therefore have empathy for. I also want other trans and queer audiences, and their families, to feel heard and seen in some capacity.”

Why should everyone come and see it?

Daniela: “Because Emerging deals with one of the hottest and controversial topics of our time; gender identity and its representation. It deals with the subject sensitively, intelligently and with a great deal of honesty. It takes the audience by the hand in an emotional journey into an uncharted territory.

“Through this performance we want to give a true voice to the experience of many unheard people, the trans young people and their families who go through a similar experience to ours. We write our story and history, nobody else can do it for us.

“We to thank the team at The Lowry, from believing in Emerging from the very first time I spoke about it with Steve three years ago. For the generous commission and ongoing support, which has played not small part in convincing the Arts Council and Foyle to fund it. We have felt and feel respected, cared for, trusted and held in high consideration. What more artists who are exposing their strength and fragility in sharing such a complex story can ask for?”

Emerging is at The Lowry, Salford from 7-8 October 2022.

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‘This is the reason I’m alive’, he says so confidently that no-one questions why someone would dedicate their life to juggling. Instead we’re left feeling why more people don’t. It’s fast, it’s funny, and it can make you look at things in a whole different way – at least when Peden does it, it can. At one point he takes standard juggling clubs and spins them so fast the narrow end of the clubs blur into what look like little tails and I start to see fish somersaulting playfully. Couple this with a soundtrack of ambient electro-pop and directional lighting, which creates a shadow puppet effect behind, and Peden has us hypnotised in a meditative trance.

This is just one of several short pieces in the 55-minute show which use juggling to create captivating images and optical illusions. Peden says he was inspired by the geometric shapes and playful compositions of Kandinsky’s paintings. As the title Zebra suggests, the images are all created in black and white, with Peden dressed in a black sports kit with added white fringing. As he describes it: “a cross between a basketball player and an antique lamp”.

In an act filled with humour and energy, Peden throws balls, spins hoops, speed skips, balances a huge tripod on his forehead, plays keepy-ups on his elbows, and invents increasingly astonishing ways of taking a vinyl LP from its sleeve. It’s juggling, its circus, it’s performance art, and it’s joyous.

Gandini Juggling presents Zebra by Wes Peden at The Lowry, Salford Quays on 20 January 2020.

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The audience are confronted with the theme of memory loss from the moment they set foot in the Quays Theatre; post-it notes stuck between the seats read ‘keys,’ ‘wallet’ ‘lock the doors’ and other reminders. These handwritten notes are mirrored in noticeboards displayed around the stage, and in the scraps of paper that performer Hanna Moisala sticks to everything from a chair to her co-performer’s leg.

Lola sees Moisala and fellow cast member, Angeliki Nikolakaki use everything from aerial straps and a tight-wire to furniture, skipping ropes and footballs. Their partner work, supporting each other in clever moves and balances, symbolically replicates the support that dementia sufferers need from their carers and family. Often it’s the simplest touches that have the most impact: Nikolakaki physically mirroring Moisala’s tight-rope walk from underneath, or their ponytails being tied together at the start of the piece so that they can’t move apart.

Stunning tricks are pulled off with flair, showcasing the performers’ strength and flexibility, but at other times they appear to struggle, conveying the strain of living with dementia in a way that is genuinely poignant. One memorable scene sees the pair attempting to pour and drink tea while balancing on a long metal tube, an exercise which physically affects the performers’ coordination and strength as if they were elderly. Nikolakaki’s aerial strap solo is full of impressive drops and wraps, but also has a moving lyrical quality.

However, sometimes it’s hard to see the place of certain scenes within this narrative. The section which sees Nikolakaki suspended from bungee cords on all fours, wearing a horse mask, while Moisala simulates riding her is so surreal and sexualised that it’s a disturbing contrast with the rest of the piece. At other points Moisala appears to eat a rose from a vase with a knife and fork; the two performers also perform a section with skipping ropes in Wonder Woman costumes to 80s video game-style music.

While physical absurdist comedy might be a part of the circus tradition, it feels off-kilter with the rest of this production, which is an otherwise sensitive, clever portrayal of life with dementia.

Lola was at The Lowry, Salford Quays on 21 November 2019.

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I’ve greatly admired their work since Speak Bitterness – a mesmerising, confessional, black comedy – in the early nineties. It opened my eyes to a form of theatre which was worlds away from the conventional, ‘well-made’ three act narrative dramas with which I had grown up. A new forced Entertainment show often feels like a Christmas visit from a favourite Uncle, who puts a great deal of care and attention into the gifts he brings. I still have vivid memories of Quizoola, Bloody Mess and The Travels, which were some of the most challenging, infuriating and brilliant shows of the noughties.

The dialogue free Out of Order sees them revisiting what director Tim Etchells describes as ‘low-rent, near-but-distant neighbours of theatre … the border zones of cabaret or nightclub act.’ They’ve often been interested in what lurks beneath the eager-to-please showbiz masks we’re all familiar with (and through a variety of media). Usually what they uncover is despair and misconnection.

Here it’s a troupe of tragic-comic clowns. The six performers sit at a classroom table, waiting for instructions on what to do next. Nobody is in charge, and any rules are apparently ignored. The first 15 minutes is like a slow build-fight, as petty, unnamed grudges rise to the surface; no punches are thrown but there’s a lot of pointing, scuffling, and aggressive staring.

After a while, it starts to become tedious. This is perhaps the point; the situation can be interpreted on several levels (maybe they’re members of the Brexit Party in disguise and on an office bender). Unfortunately, after 15 minutes, it feels like Out Of Order has run out of steam. There’s another 75 minutes to go.

More routines follow, including some larking about with balloons, air horns and a sequence whereby the troupe pointlessly move furniture around the stage. Robin Arthur, Cathy Naden and Terry O’Connor are joined by occasional collaborators Nicki Hobday, Jerry Killick and John Rowley. All are expressive, natural performers but here, they simply don’t have enough to do. Though you can’t fault their energy levels (there’s a helluva lot of running).

Forced Entertainment often close their shows with a monologue; a reminder that the chaos we have just witnessed has simply been a drama, structured and rehearsed, but nothing like the chaos that real life will eventually throw at us, no matter how hard we resist. Sadly, that doesn’t happen with Out of Order, and deprives the finale of the dramatic punch it keeps promising to deliver. The cast shuffle off the stage leaving the audience with a feeling of ‘is that it?’

Your favourite Uncle can’t always get it right. Out of Order feels like a workshop production, something still in development. But Forced Entertainment will be back, and I hope sooner rather than later. Why? Because contemporary theatre would be a significantly duller place without them.

Forced Entertainment‘s Out of Order is at Home, Manchester from 13-15 November 2019.

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Tonight’s offering sees his troupe of skilled artists take to the stage dressed in figure hugging genderless costume. Gold, rust and silver shorts topped with black, loose-fitting tops. As we find our seats the cast members prowl the stage in various states of undress. Svelte, chiselled bodies carefully mark their territory before the event begins.

A sole cast member makes his way on to the stage carrying, what appears to be, a bundle of clothes, he undresses and places the clothes before him. Music plays. Suddenly and slowly the bundle of clothes begins to move. From within a female moves. Writhes. Fits and starts. Her body arches and contorts as she releases herself. The cast, of which, I believe there are 10, join her on stage.

Humans is a blend of dance, acrobatics, trapeze and banquine. I’m trying to recall where I’ve seen this type of thing before and I can’t quite place it.There is no obvious story, yet a tale exists. It’s reminiscent of Cirque de Soleil but fuss has been stripped away. This is an intimate study in dance, but the dance isn’t the focus. What we do have is performance – the kind we’d expect at the circus, but the circus has been reinvented. Modernised. If you blink, you’d forget that the roots of the circus heavily inform the core of this work.

Forward somersaults, backwards somersaults, handstands – right-handed, then left-handed. Human poses where bodies link together. Balanced together, in impossible angles all drawing gasps and applause from the audience.

The second half of the evening is no less relentless. It sees a greater reliance on some remarkable rope (cord) work. Gifted female artists nimbly demonstrate, what can only be, the result of hours, weeks and years of training. Spin. Rotate. Spin. Rotate. Spin Rotate. Hang. Even the slight losses of balance look premeditated. Intentional. We’re hooked!

Each phase of the event is underpinned by an equally charged and well curated piece of music the choices include Lajko Felix’s El Cavillo and Vincent Peirani’s Waltz for JB. These define the highbrow component of the show. James Brown’s ‘Please, Please, Please’ and Andy Williams’ ‘The Impossible Dream’ provide the comic relief as the cast try to rhythmically respond and interpret to the song’s lyrics whilst engaging in a surreal moment where they try desperately to lick their own elbows as we watch eagerly, willing them to succeed.

Circa: Humans offers a wealth of death-defying acrobatics, with a modern twist, that really does catapult the circus tradition into the 21st century.

Circa – Humans is at The Lowry, Salford Quays on 16 and 17 September 2019. For more details about the company visit circa.org.au

Circus 1903 brings world-leading acts to The Lowry.

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