Are you a Queenslander who is into contemporary circus and physical theatre? As of 2022, there is a new festival for you, with Cluster Arts this week opening tickets sales for their inaugural CIRCFest22 festivities being held from 21 April 2022 to 1 May 2022. Over these ten days, 114 performers will partake in 76 performances across six venues – including Brisbane Powerhouse, Metro Arts, The Tivoli, La Boite Theatre, The Ron Hurley Theatre, and Kingston Butter Factory.
Cluster Arts boasts that “Through a unique partnership with international circus centre Tohu in Montreal, CIRCFest 22 Meanjin firmly establishes Brisbane’s reputation as a global leader and fosters exciting international touring opportunities”.
Attendees can look forward to a showcase of works from those of numerous backgrounds, including First Nations artists, independent companies, and Australian “superstars of the circus world”.
Circus has come a long way from the sawdust big top with a ringmaster whip-cracking tired lions through hoops. Australian contemporary circus is a modern performance artform of breathtaking human athleticism, raw emotional power, pure entertainment, and sharp social commentary. CIRCFest22 Meanjin offers everything from blazing burlesque to stiletto funambulists, powerful physical theatre to radical drag, crazy clowns to breathtaking acrobats.
Cluster Arts
As well as a public-facing program, CIRCFest22 Meanjin will have key industry activations, hosting several forums & sector development opportunities, including a First Nations-led sector development for circus & physical theatre. This will be done in conjunction with The Australian Performing Arts Market (APAM). Cluster Arts hope that in the future, as borders reopen for touring, international buyers and presenters will attend, along with Brisbane audiences being able to experience global circus companies’ performances.
Companies involved in the inaugural CIRCFest include: ARC Circus, A Good Catch, Briefs Factory, Casus Circus, Charmaine Childs, Chelsea McGuffin & Co, Cluster Arts, Dale Woodbridge-Brown, Dee Cornelius & Wilks, Finucane & Smith, Folly Games, Homunculus Theatre, Hoopla Clique, Melon the Human, Na Djinang, Salvador Dinosaur, We3.
Tickets to all performances are now available via the official CIRCFest website. Tickets vary from performance to performance, but start at $25.00.
CIRCFest22 Meanjin brings together a bold and ambitious program that celebrates circus in all its richly diverse forms – there is something for everyone. Our focus has been on delivering a festival where the artists are at the heart of every decision and that makes for some spectacular outcomes.
Deb Wilks and Kate Malone – Directors of CIRCFest 22
