now.here - second Stepping Stone

now.here

Now.here was created by the same core creative team as Prophecy and performed in December 1998 in a warehouse in on Dumballs Road just around the corner from where we made Autogeddon. The second part of the ‘Stepping Stones to the Millennium” trilogy, it focused on the present, inspired by quotes, stories and ideas like “Live each day as if it were your last; you may be living for the last time”, “Awakenings” by Oliver Sachs and Carpe Diem!

We wanted to build on the learning from Prophecy, especially: to further synthesise the different performance elements into a coherent theatrical language; to explore the role that each element could play in conveying narrative and meaning whilst raising the overall quality of circus skills and images; to better integrate the community groups and their creative contributions within the overall piece; to develop the physical and visual environment and pre-show installation to set the scene for the show; and to develop the role of video and live camera projections as a key element in the world of the show. We also wanted to see if we could include community groups from outside of Cardiff, using video and ran satellite projects with circus groups in Swansea (Circus Eruption) and North Wales (Syrcus Circus) .

The creative and devising process and timescale was similar to Prophecy. The key difference was that we brought all of our community group collaborators together with our core performing company to create, in just a few hours of rehearsal, ensemble choreographic material that everyone could perform. The images and motifs were devised by the groups through the creative development process but now, woven together into the overall narrative framework and linking choreographies. This was possible because many of the participants had also taken part in Prophecy so there was shared understanding of what we wanted to create.

The audience found themselves in a giant hospital ward, visiting installations in hospital cubicles and beds and everywhere, people sleeping. The story of a man who, about to die, discovers he wants to live but first he must defeat rock diva Time. The physical environment became a human body with giant red pumping heart and the audience were surrounded by an army of 250 human clocks.

Now.here, building as it did on Prophecy the previous year, allowed us to significantly develop and articulate our vision for the future. The show included: live vision mixing on screens and through gauzes to create spectacular multi-dimensional circus imagery; elements of rock musical style storytelling; and blurring the distinction between professional and amateur performers. All of these helped to tell a story on a large scale without compromising the circus spectacle. We began to conceive of a progression route for members of our community circus and recent circus school graduates and we had a dedicated volunteer co-ordinator for the first time. Now.here also consolidated our passion for professional participatory performance, in which the audience experience is uniquely enhanced by the involvement and energy of amateur performers, framed by high quality professional production.

We also had a fantastic party at the end and couldn’t wait to figure out how to develop this new form of circus theatre further.