Review: If You Build It...
Picture: Rhett Morrow (MC) giving the ‘safety briefing’ (Picture credit: Creative Futures Photography).
Congratulations to the Gold Coast High Tide Circus collective; the world premiere of If You Build It was an entertaining way to spend a damp Sunday evening. The show was a veritable toolbox of delights: from creative calisthenics and amazing acrobatics, through to lyrical lyra, unicycle-riding, fun hula, and impressive juggling. Plus a couple of entertaining audience participation interludes, with the memorable chorus to ‘Sweet Caroline,’ and co-opting a member of the audience to ‘strip’ (excellent ‘Full Monty’-style workwear removal by Adam).
Five talented circus artists showcased a variety of circus skills, all held together by Rhett Morrow’s work as MC, and inspired by the variety of items available from the Brisbane Tool Library (BTL). A not-for-profit organisation, Queensland’s ‘first library of things’ has over 1,000 items of outdoor equipment, tools, gear, and sports equipment available for use—which meant that the artists had many BTL items to choose from.
The show was high-paced, with a rapid-fire run through a variety of acts. Dan Gordon (referred to as the ‘Man Beast’ by the MC at one stage) wowed the audience with a number of displays of strength (creative callisthenics) which included exercises on stands (both on the ground and also when on Rhett and Sam’s shoulders). Quite a contrast to Dan’s pre-show warm up music and song (lovely rendition of the Beatles’ ‘Blackbird’).
Rhett worked exceptionally hard throughout the show—displaying skills as clown, juggler (loved the jacket removal juggling), plate-spinner, unicycler, and MC. And I particularly enjoyed Darcie Rae’s pieces—which were funny (great chicken choir work with the audience!), stylish (even when performing lyra in flippers), and lyrical (really lovely dance trapeze).
Picture: The impressive Darcie Rae’s lyra with flippers (Credit: Creative Futures Photography)
Picture (L to R): Sam, Dan and Rhett (Credit: Creative Futures Photography).
Picture: Sam and T’La in ‘If You Build It’ (Credit: Creative Futures Photography).
Sam was a great clown (lovely top hat and tape measure work), juggler, unicycle rider… and more. I loved Sam’s impressively determined rola-bola work, triumphing with three-tiers built above the rolling cylinder. And my highlight from the whole show was Sam’s acrobatic duet with T’la Morrow. The acro duet was funny and a great display of strength and skill by both performers, where T’la’s crab/bridge was sufficiently impressive even before Sam then stepped up to balance on top. So if I could just see one piece again, it would have to be watching T’la and Sam perform to The Safety Dance (an apt choice for a show featuring tools, and safety tape).
It’s such a pity that High Tide’s latest show could not take place at the library itself, as the artists had clearly given a lot of thought when creating this new, site-specific circus piece. The show was an entertaining ‘promo’ about the many different items available at the Library—from sports equipment through to tools, safety materials, and camping gear. We were fortunate that the High Tide Circus team (including Laurinda Janlewicz, Producer) is not only creative in the use of items that can be borrowed from BTL, but that members are also versatile in working around any challenges that might be thrown their way. As the library is yet to re-open after the February floods, High Tide planned to perform outside the Vulcana Studios… until the latest deluge led to a third re-location inside the building. Clearly High Tide Circus is a collective that rises to any challenge …
Verdict: Let’s hope that, having ‘built it,’ High Tide Circus give audiences a chance to see this entertaining show again. To celebrate the re-opening of the flood-affected Brisbane Tool Library, perhaps?
Picture: T’La Morrow (picture credit: Creative Futures Photography).
Audience information: If You Build It… had only one Anywhere Festival show at Vulcana Circus Studios, 420 Lytton Rd, Morningside QLD 4170 (15 May, 2022). Tickets $35. 50 minutes.
The reviewer attended the Sunday 15 May (5pm) world premiere performance.
Picture Credit: Creative Futures Photography. A copy of this review also appears on the Anywhere Festival website.