Circus Oz return triumphantly to Melbourne and back into the Big Top at Birrarung Marr with their reconstructed 2013 show Cranked Up, after touring regional Australia, a New York City run of standing ovations and hot from an extended season across America!
Cranked Up hurls the 2012 show, From The Ground Up to new heights in a production that has been road-hardened, honed and made tight, and allowed to play hilariously fast and loose.
From old black and white photographs of workers on high steel girders, Circus Oz have Cranked Up a future for themselves, starting from the ground up with a ridiculous combination of jugglers, musicians, acrobats, riggers and aerialists, to build a celebration of diversity.
Now they’re back, having added the amazing indigenous actor/clown Mark Sheppard to the mix, risking their necks in even more new stunt-jumping silliness, hanging to get back in front of their home-town crowd!
Mike Finch, Artistic Director says “It’s been a pleasure to work on this show! Making a Circus Oz show is always three parts getting the right group together, two parts experimenting, four parts saying yes to absurd ideas, while trying not to injure anyone along the way.”
“This year we have a continuing ensemble who have seen the inside of lots of theatres, thrown a multitude of tricks, stunts and gags, and brought a lot of people to their feet. This mob have a totally unique mix of physical, musical and comic skill with the feel of a family of friendly weirdos all trying to outdo each other.”
Since its inception in 1978, Circus Oz is now credited with being the first contemporary circus in a now significant international industry. As a major innovator in the field of Physical Theatre, the company has contributed radically to the Australian and international cultural landscape.
Circus Oz strives to create an immediate relationship with the audience through the creation of a show which is intimate, thought provoking, witty and spectacular, delighting itself into the hearts of generations of audiences celebrating breathtaking stunts, irreverent humour, cracking live music and an all human ensemble.
Enjoying critical acclaim from people of all ages and from all over the world, it has performed in 26 different countries, across five continents to over three million people, promoting the best of the Australian spirit: generosity, diversity, death-defying bravery, and a fair go for all.
Cranked Up
Circus Oz Big Top – Birrarung Marr, Batman Avenue, Melbourne
Season 19 June – 14 July 2013
Bookings: 136 100 or online at: www.ticketmaster.com.au
For more information, visit: www.circusoz.com for details.
Image: Prudence Upton
