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One week with Circus Oz
by Mike Finch, Circus Oz artistic director 2 August 2013
Day One- arrival in the Territory A flight to Darwin with the Circus Oz ensemble. Quite a few of our crew are new for this tour. As a result we have a Bo, a Beau, two Becs and a Joe. The energy is good, there’s a ‘Darwin welcomes the cast and crew of Circus Oz’ over the plane’s P.A. and there’s excitement in the air as we land. Our bus driver from Adventure Tours turns out to be Flaming Ricardo, a juggler and circus performer who’s an old friend of Mason’s from CircoArts, New Zealand’s circus school. We’re off to a good start! Darwin being the country town it is, we go out for a quiet drink at the nearest watering hole and not only bump into Michael Baxter our longlost props maker, but also Gleny Rae and her partner Doug Bull who happen to be the live band. Gleny Rae and her cowboy hat starred in the first season of Go Back To Where You Came From, and is also mates with quite a few of our extended tribe of riggers and performers. However it’s an early night before our first drive. Looking forward to going bush!
Day Two- drive and bump-in Morning muster in the carpark of the hotel and we finally assemble the whole team, our cooks (known as Dem Mob), Darren, Damon, Harmony and Rachel. Des, our genial videographer, Vika, mother of Josh’s beautiful daughter Maia, and the whole lovely mob of acrobats, musicians and clowns. We hit the road in convoy, three troopcarriers, a 4WD bus and Steve’s semi-trailer. Finally the tarmac ends and we ford the East Alligator River, spotting our first croc basking upstream. Thick red dust and corrugations ahead we head for Oenpeli to set up the rig for the first time. The mood is still great, lunch is bang on time and the weather perfect as the rig comes together. Local kids being hilariously cheeky while we test out the new teeterboard act. Our tech crew are already a team. First show tomorrow. Off to a great start! Day Three A big breakfast and a very chilled morning. Half the group head up into the escarpment to see some amazing ancient rock art and a great view over Gunbalanya/Oenpeli with the Circus Oz truck and rig just visible on the
footy oval. Meanwhile the crew start the set-up process, props, costumes, road cases, audio and lights slowly populating the rig. Soon the whole ensemble is on deck. it’s hot work but lots of good energy. Cheeky hilarious mobs of local kids come and tumble for us, sneaking running jumps off our crash mat and minitramp. The fearlessness of their loose gangly tumbling style is legendary. Once they see the show these physical irreverent kids might one day grow up aspiring to be not only footy players or dancers, but circus performers as well. Soon the footy oval starts to slowly fill with
punters, kids, adults, dogs and picnic blankets. The sun sets, and before we know it the show is in full swing. Roars of laughter at Mark Sheppard’s kangaroo act, gasps at the aerials and acrobatics, kids rolling around giggling at the knockabout slapstick, a whirl of energy, the explosive Teeterboard act, a big curtain call and suddenly it’s all over. A huge gang of grinning kids pose for a photo with Dale and we pack it all down. Getting it all back in the truck is a big job, but the crew are awesome and well before midnight the vehicles are packed and ready for the run to Maningrida to do it all again!
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Day Four Up before dawn for a live phone interview with ABC local radio in Darwin. Duck outside so as not to wake the crew. Jawdroppingly beautiful dawn vista of mist rising off
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the sweeping wetlands, gnarled trees silhouetted in the foreground, rolling deep blue-orange sky as the sun breaks over the distant escarpment. We rally the mob and head out in a stretchedout convoy towards Maningrida. Our Production
Manager Bo worked up here on the croc-movie ‘Rogue’ and he handles a troopie like a laid-back rally-driver. Our truckie Steve has set off early, with misgivings in his heart about the road to come. As a result every time we hit another dip, rut, pothole or ford a creek crossing the occupants of our car shout ‘Steve!’. Eventually we catch the big semi, paused before another sandy water crossing. He seems fairly upbeat for a man driving his own very very expensive truck across what is essentially a fairly dodgy dirt track. We wonder if he’s gone beyond worry. Highlights include a few slow-burning fires, including a large smouldering tree fallen clear across the road, and our Rigger Beau offering his dusty body as crocbait. Eventually we pull onto the oval at Maningrida and start the truck unpack and rig the truss. This is a relatively big community and soon the oval is jumping with dozens of kids, many of them expecting carnival rides (“octopus? dodgems?”). When we say “Circus” they’re not quite sure what we mean. We’ll show them tomorrow….
Day Five The day starts with a big breakfast next to the oval then a quick production meeting at the
site to confirm today’s plan. The big generator we’ve been lent has been restarted after mysteriously conking out last night and chugs quietly away in the distance. Beyond it is the salt water. Maningrida has some amazing fishing and we hear stories of big Barra and sharks caught nearby. Cheeky but very polite kids are still wagging school lurking around the truck but they make up for it by doing Michael Jackson impressions. After school finishes the oval starts to slowly fill. There’s a community sausage sizzle, and big packs of kids and dogs. By the time we’re in training and warm-up mode there’s a solid front two rows of faces. By showtime it’s a big crowd. We start by acknowledging the local Elders and mob, as well as all the amazing Maningrida community organisations that helped bring us here. By now our cast and crew are getting a groove on, and the show is starting to really bed in with some big speccy tricks in the Teeterboard. The local hard-rocking Sunrise band are the post-show entertainment, and while the crowd are distracted we smash a much shorter, more efficient bump-out and we’re done and dusted. Well and truly dusted. Time to hit the showers and beds to do it all again tomorrow.