Circus Oz

Editorial

When: 7-11 Oct '09
Where: Canberra Theatre Centre
Bookings: Canberra Theatre Centre  (02) 6275 2700

An Aussie-flavoured, music-filled, animal-free, rock concert and comedy show spectacular! Circus Oz has been touring the world for three decades with original concepts and bucketloads of flair and now draws up by the Yarra to hoist its big top.

Expect acrobats scaling ropes, poles and bars high overhead, and kangaroos doing quadruple backflips while the band plays a soundtrack of original music. Picture a one-handed handstand atop three stacked chairs, balanced on four beer bottles upon a small table. Imagine 10 riders on one bicycle.

Drawing on contemporary topics, relevant imagery and physical theatre, it's a circus full of clowns with intermittent jokes and skits, the audience roaring with laugher one moment and staring silently open-mouthed the next.

Circus Oz has no focus on star performers, nor does it have weak links. It was established with a distinct philosophy that continues to this day, involving gender equity, tolerance, diversity, human kindness, collective creation and ownership, and a culturally distinct flavour. It has worked with charities and Indigenous communities and also raised a small fortune to support refugees and asylum seekers.

Lawrence Bull