ANCHOR INTRO: The Circus Collective of San Diego wants to expand awareness of the circus arts through the development and production of original shows. KPBS arts reporter Beth Accomando takes us behind the scenes of Circus-stantial Evidence to find out whodunit. A man goes missing and a down on his luck detective tries to solve the case. This has all the trappings of a film noir – a gumshoe, a femme fatale, a line up of the usual suspects – but with a twist. It all takes place in a circus. Danielle Berg is the artistic director of the Circus Collective of San Diego. Her love of noir led her to create Circustantial Evidence, a Circus Noir Murder Mystery. The play allows her to showcase performers in the collective in new ways. DANIELLE BERG: The whole concept of circus has changed dramatically recently, it’s gone from what most people think of elephants and lions and freak shows to being this new contemporary art form that really focuses on exploring the limits of the human ability physically and emotionally to connect with an audience. Berg is excited that the Circus Collective is part of a growing movement of grassroots contemporary circus troops challenging old notions of what circus is. Zoe Irvine is one of the performers. ZOE IRVINE: The community is being offered something very special, which is an opportunity to see a different kind of circus and on a very local level, which I think a lot of people given feedback are really surprised that this is going on in their community. Glashaus in Barrio Logan provides an intimate venue where audiences can participate up close in solving the whodunit mystery of Circustantial Evidence tonight and tomorrow night. Beth Accomando, KPBS News.
Circustantial Evidence
August 1 and 2 at 8:00 p.m., Glashaus, 1815 Main Street in Barrio Logan
The Circus Collective of San Diego wants to expand awareness of the circus arts through the development and production of original shows such as "Circustantial Evidence: A Circus Noir Murder Mystery."
Where: The Glashaus. What: A ringmaster gone missing. Who: The usual suspects.
There's Anton "The Chef" Peppin. Lola Hornsby. Violet Monroe. Everyone has a motive and everyone suspects each other. It's a classic noir web of deceit, betrayal and intrigue, but this time at a circus.
"I’ve always loved film noir," said Daneille Berg, artistic director of the Circus Collective of San Diego. "I just love old movies and there’s something about the melodramatic, dark, but when it’s pushed to its extreme, kind of comedy [about noir] that suits circus very well because it’s so emotive and just so fun to play with. So when we started thinking about about a film noir and all the different characters we could pull out of it — the femme fatale, the inspector, the villains — it just had so many possibilities."
Berg explained, "We’ll have trapeze, aerial straps, rope, juggling, contortion — so all those kinds of just spectacular performances. But (it's) all woven into a storyline of a kind of down and out detective who stumbles across a circus troupe who’s missing their ringmaster, and he’s trying to solve the case and each performer is a suspect. And it’s a very intimate show. It’s a smaller venue, and we really like that. The audience is right up close, and they get to be involved in trying to solve the whodunit mystery and participate in this way."
In recent years the whole concept of circus has changed.
"It’s gone from what most people think of elephants and lions and freak show to being this new contemporary art form that really focuses on exploring the limits of the human ability, physically and emotionally, to connect with an audience. And we’re really excited that Circus collective is part of this growing movement of grass-roots contemporary circus troops that are just really challenging all the old notions of what circus is," Berg said.
One of the collective's performers, Zoe Irvine, had this take on what the group is doing:
"That’s another mission of ours, to realize that circus is theater, circus is dance, and circus can be involved with music. We had live music in our last show.
"We want to create collaborative projects with other kinds of artists as well. The community is being offered something very special, which is an opportunity to see a different kind of circus and on a very local level, which I think a lot of people (who have) given feedback are really surprised that this is going on in their community."
Find out whodunit this Friday and Saturday night at Glashaus with "Circustantial Evidence."
