Whip-cracking, hair-hanging, sword stunts, singing, nudity.
An extraordinary four-woman show stunned The Lowry with fear-inducing stunts and important messages about intersectionality in the circus community.
We’ve all heard of the Greatest Showman, but Marisa Carnesky and the cast raised the question of what if there were showwomen?
What would that look like and what would it mean?
The performers each embodied a real circus performer from the past.
Fancy Chance, hair-hanging aerialist and comedienne, stunned the crowd with a gravity-defying performance, plus a beautiful song about the experience of being Asian.
She reflected Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando – an aerialist from the 1800s who performed the ‘iron jaw’ and flying trapeze.
When sword-swallower Livia Kojo Alour started playing with her assortment of weapons, I hid behind my hands.
I tried not to grimace when she climbed a ladder of swords and walked over a path of broken glass.
But she also sent a powerful message about the connotations of the ‘pain-free black woman’ and the theme of appropriation in the history of the circus and beyond.
Alour reflected body magic star Koringa who hypnotised crocodiles and lay on a bed of knives.
Lucifire, who was embodying sharp-shooter Florence Shufflebottom, provoked gasps from the audience with her whip-cracking tricks.
I learnt the sound of the crack is actually the whip cutting so quickly through the air that it breaks the sound barrier, creating a mini sonic boom.
This was frightening enough – so when she lit her whip on fire I grabbed my sister and hid in the crook of her arm.
I can’t even describe the atmosphere in the crowd when the fire-whip was being whooshed around and cracked – the audience was pin-drop silent aside from the occasional gasps.
It was absolutely terrifying, but well and truly incredible.
Though I must admit I breathed a sigh of relief when the fire was finally extinguished.
In a 60 minute performance, Marisa and the team created an immersive bubble of humour, magic, female empowerment, and a real sense of community and belonging.
Featured image: Copyright by Sarah Hickson
