Circa
January, 2026
“Circa is one of the world’s great performing arts companies. Since 2004, we’ve called Brisbane, Australia, home while touring the world, captivating audiences in over 45 countries and reaching more than two million people. Our award-winning performances have earned standing ovations, rave reviews and sold-out shows across six continents.
Everything we do is fuelled by our core values: quality, audacity, humanity.” – CIRCA
I first saw CIRCA perform their eponymously named production as part of Sydney’s VIVID in 2012 and was mesmerised. I loved the highly charged starkness, but 14 years later I am left with just muscle memory of the many times I was left breathless and on the edge of my seat. Forgive the clichés, but I am being literal. – Sandhya Nand
Reviewers at the time said;
1. “There were moments of whimsy and quiet humour and there were moments so risky, so precisely timed, that your heart would skip a beat. And always, there was a sense of connection between the performers.
Relationships of all sorts played out onstage, including one particularly powerful duet featuring Emma McGovern in blood-red high heels and abs-of-steel partner Lewis West. Let’s just say there was much sado-masochistic pressing of stiletto heels into West’s bare chest, bare back, bare shoulders. Ouch.“
Kathryn Greenway, The Montreal Gazette, “C!RCA earns its exclamation point”
February 7, 2012 [story is no longer available]
A photo of what Greenway described is in this article:
2. …Because Circa focuses so much on the body, it’s no surprise that at the end of the show, [Circa’s CEO and artistic director] Yaron Lifschitz has a very sore cast on his hands. ”It’s dangerous, people get injured and things go wrong. And it is also emotionally difficult, you have to pour yourself into the roles and you have to do so at an extreme limit.
The roles don’t give you any room to hang around and muse on how pretty you’re being, they really require every tendon, muscle and part of your psyche. Which I think is one of the secrets of success of the work, it doesn’t muck around, it takes you to a very strong, risky place very quickly.”
Lifschitz says there are loads of reasons to not go and see theatre. ”It’s risky, you have to park your car, you have to get a babysitter, it’s often cramped, the drinks are overpriced.
The only reason I can see why you’d actually deal with it on a regular basis is because there’s this possibility there might be this empathetic connection between you and another live human being in a shared space. […] You’re going to breathe the same air, your heart is going to skip a beat at the same moment of risk or excitement or explosion. Deep human empathy and connectedness is what happens at its best in the theatre.”
Andrew Stephens, The Age, “Bodies brought to the heel”
Published May 19, 2012
I photographed CIRCA in August 2014, in Sydney when they toured Australia with their production ‘S’, an astounding display of humans atomic connection and detachment from earthly physics! – SN
3.“The theme of the show is inspired by the shape, grammatical functions and sound of the 19th letter of the alphabet, ‘S’. The minimalist stage, costume and apparatuses carry through the stripped-back premise, ensuring focus remains on acrobatic skill and body manipulation, as the ensemble of seven are pushed to their physical and emotional limits.
The seven acrobats work perfectly as one, but also excel as individuals. […] The degrees of difficulty traversed are astounding […] the entire performance is elevated to pure artistry. […] The heavy breathing often heard by performers adds authenticity to the show, a welcome contrast to the often perfect facade maintained by professional performers.”
Tara Watson, Arts Hub, ‘S by Circa‘.
Published May 30, 2014.
Images taken by duskdevivision in 2014.
Full album on Facebook here.
UPDATE May 11th, 2026
DUCK POND.
“The world’s most romantic ballet is re-imagined as a circus spectacular, full of Circa’s signature physicality and shot through with cheeky humour and a thoroughly contemporary energy.
Be swept away by this tale of swans and hapless princes sparkling with quirky touches like the sequinned flipper-wearing duck army and a burlesque black swan. There are sumptuous aerials, jaw-dropping acrobatics and of course feathers!
Touching, funny and utterly entertaining, Duck Pond is a tale of identity and finding your true self.”
QPAC SPECIAL OFFER for Brisbane.
– Receive $49 tickets for 48 hours only for performances on May 13th, 14th and 15th.