Left wanting more…

By Rachel Holkner

Circus Oz has always performed with such glee and joy, and But Wait… There’s More! is no exception: the performers and the audience are caught up in the joy of simply being a part of a circus. The atmosphere is undeniable, beginning even from collecting tickets to the sounds of the Federation Bells pealing right outside the Big Top.

Set in a mottled, crumbling theatre But Wait … There’s More! is the first Circus Oz show to have been produced at their new permanent, purpose-built Collingwood home of which they are suitably proud. If photographs in the program are any indication, the space is beautiful, light-filled, and modern. Everything this production is not.

Taking on “infobesity” as a theme, the idea that we are so inundated with data, marketing, sales, spin and brainless television that… what? The show offers no analysis nor solutions to the topics they try to explore. Instead the conceits are a thin thread to link together disjointed acts, too many of which were not only detached completely from the theme, but not even terribly entertaining.

Barcode clowns scatter through the show disrupting acts, and causing mayhem: their demands for acts to be presented in the form of a game show were irritating and lent nothing but to highlight how underdeveloped some of these filler-acts were.

There were some stunning performances from the ensemble – a ballet performed on unicycle by Kyle Raftery and April Dawson, a poignant juggling act by Olivia Porter – yet these were sadly too few. The show as a whole lacked the highs and lows you expect from a circus, whether side-splitting hilarity or breath-holding tension.

These highly skilled performers were hobbled by an underdeveloped story and I only hope they bring more of the beauty and light from Collingwood into their next production.
Venue: Under the Heated Big Top, Birrarung Marr, Melbourne

Dates: 18th June – 13th July. Check circusoz.com for full list of times.

Tickets: $24 (Child) – $95 (Ringside)

Bookings: www.ticketmaster.com.au, 136 100