Is it circus? is it theatre? Is it installation?
NoFit State Circus brings all these genres together on Hove seafront in a single exhilarating experience of promenade circus performed in the round.
There are no seats at this show. The performance takes place around you in a space age tent. The show is breathtaking in concept and brilliant in execution. You are so close to the action you can touch the artists and smell their sweat as they brush past you on the move for their next bit of performance.
At first, the show appears chaotic and randomly unstructured. Yet, if you stand back and watch carefully every movement of every performer whether featured soloist or chorus is choreographed. There are no extras in this show just 16 star performers.
The four piece live band provide oxygen to the proceedings, breathing life into the performance and generating a really exciting musical backdrop to the show. The musicians accompany the acrobats in the way they would a soloist in a concerto. The connection between the musicians and the performers at times appears telepathic which helps elevate the performance to a unique level of quality and enjoyment.
BIANCO_Time for Beauty was originally produced with the Eden Project in Cornwall in 2012. The present production BIANCO_Turning Savage is its next step of evolution.
It has been redeveloped for touring and in April played to sellout audiences at the Roundhouse in London.
The programme notes say that BIANCO_Turning Savage is the story of a battle between beauty and brutality. A journey through time, seasons and territories unknown.
The visual concept consists of four giant scaffolding towers that glide silently across the floor. At every revolution the world changes, the music changes, the towers move pushed by the performers and the set changes around you creating the backdrop for the next part of the performance.
NoFit State are one of the very few contemporary circus companies that still travel and live the traditional circus lifestyle. Where traditional circuses were historically bonded by family ties, NoFit State performers are united by their passion for circus arts. They live together, work together, travel together, laugh, eat and cry together. They take on the world together which ultimately pulls this community of performers so closely together.
They put their lives in each others hands daily which creates a trust and bond so evident on stage and gives their work it’s unique heart and soul. It is visually stunning, musically diverse and creatively challenging. Most importantly it connects with audiences of all ages. The kids at this show were mesmerised by the performance, as was I.
With a company such as this it is wrong to single out individual performers or performances so I won’t. They were all quite simply fantastic.
If you see no other show during the fringe this year, make sure you see BIANCO_Turning Savage. It is that good and encapsulates everything a Fringe event should be about. Accessibility and entertainment.
Event: NoFit State Circus, BIANCO_Turning Savage
Where: NoFit State Big Top, Hove Lawn next to King Alfred Leisure Centre
When: May 14 – June 2
Time: 7.30pm Tuesdays – Saturdays (except Tuesday 28 May), 2.30pm Saturdays & Bank Holiday Monday, 3pm Sundays
Cost: £18 Adult / £14 Concession / £48 Family ticket
Box Office, tel: 0333 222 9000
For more information, CLICK HERE: www.nofitstate.org