Circus Oz was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1978. Touring over 27 countries including the rainforests of South America, Outback Australia and the city lights of New York, Circus Oz has been successfully taking its breathtaking, self-crafted, boundary pushing, culturally poignant, socially just, funny,  shows global going on 35 years.

‘The Circus Oz show is a rock-n-roll, animal free circus that adults and children can enjoy together. Celebrating breathtaking stunts, irreverent humour and cracking live music, Circus Oz promotes the best of the Australian spirit: generosity, diversity, death-defying bravery, and a fair go for all.’ - www.circusoz.com

Their breathtaking 2017 showcase Model Citizens did not disappoint; keeping to the company's theme of humour and absurdity, it incorporated well thought-out scenes that highlighted some of the ongoing concerns of oppression and economical struggle in modern Australia. The show incorporated a new creative director, Rob Tannion, to help bring the performance to life. And he did just that by utilising oversized everyday objects to create scenes that takes the audience to a world where they question the concepts of normality through extreme acrobatics, physical improbability, absurd theatre, and breathtaking choreography.

Mitch Jones, a seemingly ‘normal’ looking man, enters the stage to stand front and centre. He is dressed in a professional business-like manner, but looks bewildered and confused as the curtains open to the everyday objects on stage: scissors, pegs, spools and tables. But each object is more than twice their usual size. Thus the nonsensical theme was set for the rest of the show.

Jones looks around and can see the cast members dressed alike, moving in sync, repeating day-to-day task: ironing, washing and paying bills. He quickly has an epiphany, tearing off his original costume revealing his inner rebel. He is now dressed noticeably different to the other performers on stage--setting himself up as the non-conformist in a repetitive world. He enacts the struggle of how the ‘weird’ ones find a place in our increasingly expensive, 38-hour work week, white picket fence, modern Australian society.

The acrobatic team were quick to take the stage to showcase their incredible talents of tumbling, balancing, roller skating, hula hooping and dancing. Utilising the oversized objects, the lead contortionist (Jarred Dewey) performed manoeuvres atop an oversized shoe, iron and also performed eye gazing trapeze tricks. Freyja Edney gave a quirky, humorous live ukulele and vocal showcase mocking Australia’s, or lack there of, social tolerances. The mood was quickly lightened pre-intermission through astonishing the audience with her hula hooping abilities: she had six simultaneously rotating around her body at one time!

The second half of the show saw the darker tones of oppression returning to the surface, hopefully fostering awareness and provoking thought within the audience regarding some of Australia’s social injustices. A performer running on an ever-spinning wheel increasing in speed, reflected individual’s consistent need to keep up with everyday life. An interesting, off-beat juggling act allegorises the struggles of addiction of any kind. A short scene had the entire audience in hysterics making light of the ridiculous queues and call waiting times when attempting to receive assistance from Centrelink. My personal favourite was one of the final stunts of the night where performer Luke Ha balanced atop an oversized credit card. As the cards grew taller he was being made offers for credit extensions and loans. This only grew the tower of cards until they collapsed underneath him, and he was caught seamlessly by his trusted cast members below him. This was flawlessly performed and called attention to the harshness of how expensive life is in Australia, and the real struggle it is to stay out of debt for most middle-class citizens.

Model Citizens was more than just a circus act, it incorporated acrobatics, dance, theatre, live music, acting and utilised the medium of the entertainment and the creative arts to create awareness to social and cultural issues in modern day Australia. My expectations were exceeded.

Brianna Denmeade