Photos - Jess BialekCircus Oz need hardly lift a finger to impress: its motto is enough to express its heart's in the right place. 'Community, diversity, humanity, hilarity' is a world-changing vision; just the ticket at this time of year. Fortunately, Oz' performance is equally inspirational, particularly as it provides a home and training-ground for those other than sublimely svelte athletes. In fact, the performance begins well before the official 'curtain', as with a madcap member running around, taking spectacular tumbles, down stairs, parodying the theatre, in itself, of nerve-wracked, last-minute, opening night preparations. Or the overall-clad janitor, conscientiously trying to sweep the very paths along which patrons were flooding into the big top. Very amusing stuff, especially when, it seems, relatively few patrons realise the joke. Then there was Tiffany, the event coordinator (a veteran of 35 major spectacles including the 2000 opening ceremony of, I think, Penrith IGA) complete with clipboard and glittering costume, saying random hellos and introducing herself. Or what of the bloke painstakingly laying a dainty cloth, on a table onstage, which was then removed, moments later, by an equally fastidious counterpart; this circus going on for seeming ages?
Over three decades of international touring (26 countries, 5 continents) proves the first tenet of Oz' vision: community; the roots reach far and wide. Diversity is exemplified, as alluded to above, in its employment policies and practices, as well as in the very audiences it reaches. Humanity is in all the above, as much as in the grace, affection, tenderness, warmth and camaraderie of its work. Not to mention its refusal to exploit animals, other than ourselves, in any way, shape or form; thus, no animals. And hilarity, even pre-show, is everywhere, bouncing off the walls of the tent.
And, if you love rock 'n' roll, you'll love Oz, since it's very much driven and punctuated by brilliant, blistering, Zappaesque jazz-rock themes, as well as more trad circus fare; as with everything else, delivered with expertise, commitment, wit and panache. (For your listening pleasure, there are 5 Oz soundtracks available via iTunes.)
As my beautiful companion rightly, if cynically, observed, 'if you've seen one circus, you've seen them all'. The devil, or difference, is in the detail. So, whether it's spinning plates, a bed of nails, high-rise acrobatics on a rope, or whatever else, Oz distinguishes itself with inventive variations on these themes. But one case-in-point: a trombonist hangs, upside-down, suspended only by one foot, held between the invincible thighs of another performer, high above the white-knuckled crowd. It's a daring, wonderful, uplifting testament to the transcendent power of mutual trust. 'Look, mum, no hands!' And no nets.
A simple, Chaplinesque device, where a girl falls into a chairframe, is sustained ingeniously, with various, intensely comical attempts to free herself. Not, perhaps, the 'high art' Tiffany flags repeatedly, but it is the highest form of the art of comedy. Speaking of chairs, what about a couple scaling several, teetering, at varying angles, while balanced on four bottles? It culminates in their romantic entwinement in a chandelier. Oz can even make comedy and romance natural bedfellows. This is demonstrated, also, in Tiffany's 'big day' celebrations, with a huge ring, in fact a hula-hoop, which she applies, in customary manner, to her swivelling hips, and which is added to, in great and preposterous number.
A girl doing aerial rope tricks was poetry in motion, so Oz knows how to incorporate fragile beauty, every bit as well as brash slapstick, as with tap danceoffs between the rival 'little' woman and, well, somewhat bigger one.
Alan Madden welcomed us to Gadigal country, Professor (and outgoing Australian Of The year) Mick Dodson paid tribute, as did Chairwoman Wendy McCarthy, and there was a huge after-party; all deserved homage to a troupe that preserves and enhances the traditional strengths of circus, while imbuing it with as much conscience (incidentally, it's raised at least $250,000 for refugees, among many other charitable endeavours) as feelgood vibes.
Better yet, there is something quintessentially Oz about the ensemble and its ideas, an irrverence and incorrigibly larrikin spirit that most likely harks back to its founding members. The fact that its dependent, too, not on a specific 'cast', but on an ethos that can be continuously reinvented through the medium of new members underscores the strength of its vision, mission and direction.
If you don't have fun at Circus Oz' Barely Contained, chances are you've forgotten how to have fun altogether.
Circus Oz
Barely Contained
Venue: Circus Oz Big Top, Tumbalong Park
When: December 30 - January 26
Duration: 2hrs, including interval
Bookings: Sydney Festival 1300 668 812 | Ticketmaster 1300 723 038
