Typo
Co-devised by the cast. The story within the show was co-written by Kerrin Forrest and Cora McHugh. Warehouse Circus. Canberra Circus Festival. Chifley Oval. September 26-October 5. Bookings and Information: www.canberracircusfestival.com.au.
Cast: Finlay Forrest (Director, aerial counterweight, Acrobatic Base),Clare Pengryffyn (actor at the desk, Hamish Forrest (Chairs), Samara Glesti (Acrobatic Flyer ), Jamie Johnston (Aerialist). Indigo Newnham (Acrobatic base), Georgia Wallace (Juggler, Clown), Jamie Gumbrell (Juggler),Cora McHugh (Contact Juggler, Base
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
A writer (Clare Pengryffyn) sits gazing at the typewriter on the desk before her. She searches for the opening line to her story. Like the pieces of paper screwed up and strewn across the stage, members of Clockwork Circus enter the stage. They somersault, roll, cartwheel and handstand as the writer struggles with writer’s block. It is the familiar quest for inspiration, probing the imagination until the writer becomes swathed in the magic of the circus and the storyfinds its way to the pages of her book. Director Finlay Farrell and the Clockwork Circus Ensemble of young performers have woven an intriguing concept around a collection of carefully rehearsed and expertly performed acrobatic, juggling and aerial skills. Like the circus, Typo entices the ensemble to take risks, attempt daring feats of using the performer as a skipping rope or balancing precariously on bodies or juggling glowing balls across the darkly lit stage to each other. Aerialist Jamie Johnson lures Pengryffyn to her trapeze to let the imagination soar. Samara Glesti gives herself up to absolute trust as she is swung from side to side, hurled into an airborne somersault or climbs a mountain of bodies. Audiences hold their breath as Hamish Forrest performs a balancing duet with Johnson and then solo, supported only by a n attached wire should he fall, climbs a tower of dangerously balanced chairs.
Circus and story coalesce in the wonderment of an imagination that has no limits. Each circus act by the amazingly talented troupe of performers is a story in itself of passion, dedication, skill and tireless practice in the quest for perfection. The animated smile of Georgia Wallace’s clown and the beaming grin of the story’s dragon of the valley in the writer’s unfolding legend is a beacon of enjoyment, inviting an audience to share in the entertainment of the ingeniously conceived concept.
Outside, a chill wind blows across the Chifley Oval. Inside the Big Top, the audience stands in joyful ovation as the circus performers come forward with the glowing balls in their hands to salute the end of the story of Jim and Sam and the dragon. The story and the show are complete, triumphs of the creative spirit, perseverance and the artistic passion that unites the writer and the world of the circus performer.
Typo takes this circus company on the path to a bright future. Johnson’s work on the trapeze is already a feat of enchanting accomplishment, Forrest’s balancing chair act holds the audience in suspense. Glesti’s trust in her fellow performers indicates a troupe that thrills with an assurance of safety and success. Typo is a show where potential meets great promise, a promise realized by discipline, trust and talent.
I would have liked a greater touch of pizzazz, a more carefully designed performance that could lift the magic of showbiz in costume and design. Johnson’s aerialist costume lends the act a touch of glamour while allowing the magic of the skill to shine. The earthy brown clothing may have lent the show a touch of the ordinary but there was a great deal of extraordinary circus magic in this show that could have shone a little brighter in its presentation.
I am always excited by young performers on the journey to excellence in their art. Clockwork Circus is such a collective and I is a thoroughly enjoyable salute to the magic of story, the power of the word and the thrill of the circus. I look forward to Clockwork Circus’s next exciting project.
