Canberra Circus Festival.
Artistic Director Tom Davis. May Wirth
Big Top on Chifley Oval. September 26-October 5 2025. Bookings and Information: https://www.canberracircusfestival.com.au/
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
Wide eyes, loud laughter and deafening applause welcome the Canberra Circus Festival back to the May Wirth Big Top on rthe Chifley Oval behind the Chifley Shops for a week of thrills, spills and sheer delight. The Canberra Circus Gala (h) Festival director Tom Davis with an army of artists, trainers and volunteers once again serves up a week of performances that showcase the talents of young performers from Canberra’s own Warehouse Circus, emerging artists, amazing professionals and superstars of tomorrow. It is an eclectic company of aerialists, jugglers, acrobats, clowns and daredevils, a smorgasbord of talent that would tempt any captivated child to run away to join the circus or at least rock along to the festival and remember the time they dreamed of being a circus performer.
The opening Gala one night stand of snapshot entertainment, emceed adroitly by Canberra clown Pablo presented short pieces from the various shows that would be performing during the week. Circus performers from Warehouse Circus and interstate whet the appetite with a programme of skills and thrills. There was spontaneous applause as the opening act amazed audiences with a skillfully choreographed display of Devil Sticks by a sunglassed cool quartet of guys. Georgia’s Marble Act was a unique act of balancing and juggling, while Estelle, Jade and Charlotte of all female act Out of Bounds displayed the risky routine of the Juggle Stick juggling. There were aerial acts by Lucy and Issy, and Jamie and Claire, and a gymnastic act with blocks by Banjo and Lizzie from The Waiting Place. A young prize winning aerialist 'Bendy Gigi' showed how grace and artistry on the rope could stop the breath while a NICA hopeful showed what it takes to qualify for a life on the hoop. The evening’s entertainment ended with a heart-stopping balancing act on a tower of chairs which one on top of another led the performer Hamish to the ceiling. His control was precise and there was no need for the precautionary rope that would have left him twirling in mid-air had the chairs collapsed.
Of course there was the dropped
juggling ball, the mistimed error, the slip up and the ever-present possibility that something could
go wrong. That is the stuff of suspense and surprise and the audience applauded
success and slip up in equal measure. This was a night of fun and appreciation
of remarkable feats of skill and devotion. The Gala(h) gives circus goers a taste
of the festival’s offerings. It may lack the glitz and glamour of the bigtime
shows. It may not have the sophistication of the top pro shows. What it does
have is the commitment and the passion and the emerging talents of the young performers
with family fun entertainment on offer and the passion to present the
possibility to peers that they too could revel in the marvellous world of the
circus.
The hour passed quickly as Pablo
cleverly emceed the night with a combination of audience participation and
introduction of each act. His rapport with the audience was instinctive and
instantaneous and the night passed in a flash of utter enjoyment.
Each festival, Warehouse Circus
shows that it is an organization that continues to develop the skills of young
performers under the guidance and training of professional circus artists. This
year became not only a demontsrtaion of skills, but an injection of theatrical
flair as in the case of Laurel and Hardy like duo Jamie and Claire on the
trapeze. This was a touch of comic ingenuity. Warehouse Circus returns with
school holiday entertainment that will delight young and old alike.