Circus Oz
Circus Oz is a contemporary circus company based in Australia, collectively owned by its Membership, founded in 1978. Its shows incorporate circus, theatre, satire, rock 'n' roll and a uniquely Australian humour.
History
Early years
Circus Oz received the Certificate of Incorporation of Public Company on 9 February 1978 in Melbourne. It was funded by the Australian Performing Group, and had its first performance season in March 1978. Circus Oz was the amalgamation of two already well-known groups: the New Ensemble Circus ; and the Soapbox Circus, a roadshow set up by the APG in 1976.The founding members were: Sue Broadway, Tony Burkys, Tim Coldwell, John "Jack" Daniel, Laurel Frank, Kelvin Gedye, Jon Hawkes, Ponch Hawkes, Robin Laurie, John Pinder, Michael Price, Alan Robertson, Jim Robertson, Pixie Roberstson, Helen Sky, Jim Conway, Mic Conway, Rick Ludbrook, Peter Mulheisen, Gordon McLean, Steve Cooney, and Colin Stevens. Laurie and Broadway, along with members Jane Mullett, Celeste Howden, Laurel Frank, Hellen Sky, and Ollie Black, formed a one-off group called the Mighty Bonza Whacko Women's Circus. This led to the establishment of the Wimmins Circus in 1979. Wimmins Circus was based at the APG's Pram Factory, and was able to use the Circus Oz gym.
Significant developments in Circus Oz's early years included: a 32-week season in 1979 at the Last Laugh Theatre Restaurant in Melbourne; the company's first international tour in 1980 ; the "Nanjing Project" ; and the group's relations with The Flying Fruit Fly Circus. As part of its international touring, Circus Oz has been to many cities all over the world, including New York City, London, and Jerusalem.
Originally founded as a collective governed company, Circus Oz developed into a triumvirate by the late 1990s by having a Triple Executive who all equally ran and organised the company. The Triple Executive included Co-CEO Linda Mickleborough, who became general manager of Circus Oz in 1993. During her time at the helm she was responsible for the development of Circus Oz Classes, High Flying Teams, and Indigenous programs, and laid the preparations for a move to new premises at Collingwood. She resigned effective from 31 December 2012. The Executive team also included Co-CEO Mike Finch who was artistic director, and founding member Tim Coldwell. The company is owned by the Company Membership and is governed by a Board of Directors. Chairs of the Board have included: Trish Caswell; Vic Marles; and Wendy McCarthy.
The company
Values
The founders wanted to create a "contemporary circus", with elements of rock'n'roll, popular theatre and satire. The company had an ongoing social justice agenda and was open about supporting humanitarian causes. Over the years this has included women's rights, land rights for First Nations Australians and strong opposition to the indefinite detention of asylum seekers.Shows
One of the first "new" or "contemporary" circuses without animals, Circus Oz made shows with only 12 multi-skilled performers who all performed the entire show, doing "a bit of everything", from acrobatics and clowning to music and aerial work. The shows were usually comic and character-driven. The cast comprised a diverse mix of body shapes and ages, with an equal number of men and women. Their style was generally cheeky, anarchic and subversive.Circus Oz performed in at least 27 countries across five continents, including four seasons on 42nd Street in New York City, a number of seasons at Queen Elizabeth and Royal Festival Halls in London, a refugee camp in the West Bank, Indigenous communities in the Australian desert and a glass opera house in the Brazilian rainforest. Shows were translated and performed in many languages, including Hindi, Catalan and Danish. The troupe broke box office records at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and represented Australia at many international festivals.
With the exception of Waiter, There's a Circus in My Soup, Circus Oz did not name their seasons or tours until 2006, with the Laughing at Gravity tour. Each subsequent tour was then named until 2017 when Artistic Director, Rob Tannion, developed the company into a multi-show model.Laughing at Gravity Barely Contained See It To Believe It Steampowered From the Ground Up Cranked Up But Wait...There's More Twentysixteen Model Citizens Precarious Rock Bang Wunderage Non-Stop Energy Smash It!
- ''HAVOC''
Ensemble
Until 2017, the company employed a full-time ensemble of 12 performers, plus a technical crew, production and artistic departments. Apart from touring nationally and internationally with their various shows, other parts of Circus Oz included:- BLAKFlip, a programme connecting Australian Aboriginal performers and artists with the circus, including masterclasses, casting, performances, traineeships and guest artists;
- Circus Classes, public circus classes for the general public, adults, schools, and community groups to learn circus skills;
- The Melba Spiegeltent, a venue with a programme of cabaret, innovative performance, and local community events;
- SideSault, a Sector Support Programme, providing access to space for a selected series of small/medium-sized local performance groups ;
- High Flying Teams, a corporate team-building and training programme using circus as a skill-base for corporate training