Scattered Tacks, presented by Brisbane Powerhouse and Circa, won the Village Award for Most Outstanding Production, 2008 Melbourne Fringe. It tells the story of the performers behind the circus.
There is no fan-fare or brightly-coloured tents with sad and happy clowns riding on small bicycles. Rather, Adelaide trio (Terri Cat Silvertree, Aelx Gellmann and Skye Gellmann) are circus performers inspired by ordinary events in their day to day lives. How can something as simple as brushing your teeth, making a cup of tea, mowing the lawn or having sex become the inspiration for a circus act? What happens when you eat a raw onion whole as if an apple or lay on scattered tacks? Through a series of vignettes, featuring balancing acts, human pyramids and juggling, a picture is painted of the violence and self-harm behind the fan-fare as the trio seek the answer to these questions.
There is no fan-fare or brightly-coloured tents with sad and happy clowns riding on small bicycles. Rather, Adelaide trio (Terri Cat Silvertree, Aelx Gellmann and Skye Gellmann) are circus performers inspired by ordinary events in their day to day lives. How can something as simple as brushing your teeth, making a cup of tea, mowing the lawn or having sex become the inspiration for a circus act? What happens when you eat a raw onion whole as if an apple or lay on scattered tacks? Through a series of vignettes, featuring balancing acts, human pyramids and juggling, a picture is painted of the violence and self-harm behind the fan-fare as the trio seek the answer to these questions. The stage was in darkness for most of the performance with head mounted or hand held torches from the performers casting a meagre light on the stage. There was no music or sound. The fact that the tricks were performed in near darkness and in silence intensified the performance. The audience tended not to applaud between vignettes – not through lack of appreciation but because it would have broken the energy and tension in the theatre.
The piece is slow moving but intriguing and engaging. Although it is not satisfying theatre (in fact it’s not really theatre in the traditional sense), you will probably not regret devoting 45 minutes of your life to the performance.
It contains nudity and the opening vignette could be coined as “nude circus” – a male performer wears nothing but a jumper rising above his groin area.
Scattered Tacks is showing at the Visy Theatre, Brisbane Powerhouse for a limited season – 26th to 28th November 2009.
Image Used with the Permission of Brisbane Powerhouse.
