A glimpse of the extraordinary

At the beginning of the second year of the Foundation Degree students explore a range of genres that can be used with circus skills. One of these is that of the grotesque, which includes elements of parody and carnivalesque. This exploration culminated in a presentation last week which is hard to describe but I shall try.

Unlike the case in the other genres this style is presented with the entire group performing in one piece; this year, appropriately, there were thirteen of them. They work as a collective of eccentrics, with very individual costumes and personas, some deformed, some animalesque, some degraded, some deviant, some extravagant. One roamed around, kicking a ball or bouncing off the walls seemingly oblivious to the action. While solo or trio sections are performed front-stage, the rest echo the action with strange personalised gestures so that there is an excess of images. Out of this nightmarish carnival there are parodies of consumer advertisements, charity appeals, and a play with themes that include health, dieting and fashion, so there is much scatology and bare flesh; all the rules, theatrical conventions and logic are abandoned. The purpose is not so much to create a piece for public consumption but more to allow an opportunity for students to explore and expand their own limitations.

As each outrageous act occurred, jaws dropped, bodies recoiled or broke into laughter. While the stakes got higher we were rivetted as to what might happen next, but as well as a hellish bedlam there are glimpses of heaven, of beauty; as well as horror there is laughter at them and at ourselves. This is not just a matter of pulling apart and pulling down with mockery but it is also celebratory; there are episodes of strange, wild and joyful 'dancing'. At one brief moment, even though I had seen a rehearsal, I had a sensation of 'being somewhere else', something happening in the room that was so overwhelming that it was no longer located in real-world time and place; a sensation of frightening chaos, of all hell breaking loose, a breaking wave that was beginning to engulf all of those watching, a sensation of being scared and, in that rollercoaster way, of being exhilarated. It was a very rare theatrical moment.

Bim Mason