Circus often draws connotations of the strange, the unfamiliar and wild, the otherworldly. One man, however, seeks to break down the perceived distance between audience and performer, and bring the audience right into the show.
Martin Schreiber, Director and Co-Founder of circus company Gravity & Other Myths, had an average Australian childhood. Growing up in Adelaide, he went to school like everyone else, but it was what happened after school that changed the course of his life.
“I started doing circus at a place called Cirkidz, an after-school programme where you learn juggling and trapeze. We did shows in South Australia for other schools and we’d do workshops and one or two shows in Fringe.”
Cirkidz did enough to draw Schreiber into a world he couldn’t resist.
“When me and my friends hit 18, we didn't ever want to stop, we loved it so much. So we started training ourselves and made a show that we put into Fringe and it all kicked off from there.”
Schreiber initially excelled in gymnastics, but an injury forced his hand in choosing between his two loves. He shares his advice for recovering from injuries.
“Stay positive. It's hard with the job and the touring, if you get a big injury, you go home basically, and all your friends are still on the road performing. It can feel isolating. So staying positive and staying in touch with people, and doing the right physio and rehab are important.”
Schreiber articulates the differences and similarities between the two disciplines – acrobatics and gymnastics.
“Acrobatics is very athletic based, so a lot of it is flipping and balancing. There's a lot of physical crossover, especially with the training, knowing how to train properly and stay safe. The main difference is that circus is non competitive, it's more like a team sport. You're all helping each other, lifting each other up, physically and metaphorically,” he laughs.
“There's not that cutthroat competitiveness that there is in gymnastics. So it's more chilled and allows you to explore the more creative side as well.”
After co-developing Gravity & Other Myths – who will be performing their show 'A Simple Space' as part of this year's Fringe World in Perth – Schreiber and co took to the world stage in a career that has spanned 16 years, and placed them in front of admiring, and entertaining, crowds.
“My favourite is when we performed in Montreal,” Schreiber shares. “Montreal is the mecca of circus, Cirque du Soleil’s based there and a couple of other influential circus companies we all look up to. So when we're over there, it feels like we're back in our own community, even though it's on the other side of the world.”
“Traveling through South America had the craziest reactions. You’d have people singing and dancing the whole time in the aisles and were over the top enthusiastic.”
GOM developed multiple shows and formats, before settling on current iteration ‘A Simple Space’, which feels like their most authentic and challenging yet, really inviting the audience into the performance.
Image © Chris Herzfeld
“‘Freefall’ was our very first show, and then ‘Backbone’, to us, felt a bit too much like a stage show where the audience comes along and just watches the show. So when we made ‘A Simple Space’, we wanted to make a show that felt like we're inviting the audience along to watch a training session. They would see us as a bit more human, see what goes into making some of the skills and acts we do. Really having a raw look at what it takes to be an acrobat.”
“Then it morphed from there into challenging yourself, seeing what you're capable of. We do that through a series of games like the audience throwing balls at you, trying to knock you down from a handstand. And then there's more conceptual stuff, how close you can push your skills to falling and getting dangerous and still get caught by the other performers.”
“The show’s been going for almost ten years, we've probably done almost 2,000 shows of ‘A Simple Space’. A lot of people have done it and put their own mark on it. It’s grown from what once was five friends messing around to now a really world-class show.”
Schreiber has performed in 'A Simple Space' before, and was one of its creators. He uncovers what exactly audiences can expect when 'A Simple Space' hits Fringe World.
“A really happy, visceral reaction. You can see the sweat coming off the performers, watch them struggle. You can get on side with them when they get something right. It’s a really fun, joyous watch. And there's a lot of hardcore acrobatics as well, so if you wanna see some cool flips, it’s in the ballpark as well.”
'A Simple Space' plays The Aurora Spiegeltent at The Pleasure Garden (Fringe World) from 17 January-16 February.
