woman in a long black dress leans against a wall thoughtfully. she is lit by a blue light.

Cir­ca The­atre has been trans­formed into a series of per­for­mances areas fea­tur­ing music, video, and con­tem­po­rary dance. The audi­ence fol­lows the per­form­ers as they move through dif­fer­ent spaces until we all end up at the same stage.

Rush­es is a fas­ci­nat­ing and con­tra­dic­to­ry expe­ri­ence. It’s excit­ing to see Cir­ca opened up even though it’s hid­den behind a white wrap. We’re invit­ed to make our own path­ways and explore but there’s a very clear path­way to fol­low. Each space/place has cap­ti­vat­ing music, phys­i­cal per­for­mance and light­ing or video. As an audi­ence mem­ber you feel the desire to stay in one space yet you’re aware there are more per­for­mance spaces. You want to stay and soak in the atmos­phere only you can’t because curios­i­ty (and #fomo) leads you on. Adults have the glee­ful excite­ment of chil­dren as we explore the spaces and the win­dows in to dif­fer­ent areas. The per­form­ers move with us, rush­ing past up and down stairs, in and out of lights. They dance togeth­er or they solo, lit by clever lights or videos. Per­form­ers and audi­ence blend because we’re all mov­ing togeth­er. Some­times the only way to tell them apart is to look for the wine glass (although this is not a  fool­proof method).I try to medi­ate my expe­ri­ence by tak­ing a lot of pho­tos and videos and I see oth­ers doing the same. It’s over­whelm­ing. It’s exhil­a­rat­ing. It’s mes­meris­ing. I’m going again.

See it before it fin­ish­es.

NB: This is a prom­e­nade per­for­mance and not all areas are wheel­chair acces­si­ble.

  • Rush­es, on at Cir­ca The­atre to 5 March 2018, as part of the New Zealand Fes­ti­val