Internationally renowned Brisbane-based performance company, Circa, will debut their latest offering 'Il Ritorno' for the Brisbane Festival in September.
Fusing the disciplines of circus, baroque opera and folksong, the ensemble performance draws inspiration from different works that share central themes of returning, faithfulness and a longing for home; explains Artistic Director Yaron Lifschitz. “Around half of it is an opera by Claudio Monteverdi called 'Il Ritorno D'Ulisse In Patria'. It's one of the three great, late-Monteverdi operas, which tells the story of the last days of Ulysses return, after 20 years of the Trojan wars. It's a very abstract piece.
“... It's also inspired by a book by Primo Levi, the Italian chemist and holocaust survivor called 'The Truce' ['La Tregua']. It is set after the liberation of the camps in Auschwitz, where a group of Italians get sent home, but because Europe is in such disarray, they get sent to the middle of Russia. They're kind of in this big empty space, and they're just absolutely wracked with nostalgia. So in my imagination, what they do is tell the story – of their culture's great return home – which is Ulysses. That's why the piece is called 'Il Ritorno'; it is the opera, but it's broadly about coming home.”
One of ten productions that Circa is touring internationally, this year alone, Yaron is pleased to premiere 'Il Ritorno' in the city where it all began for the contemporary circus company, back in 2004. “We've been a part of Brisbane Festival a lot, which is wonderful. It's important to do your home-town festival.”
After its Brisbane Festival season at Brisbane Powerhouse, 'Il Ritorno' heads to the Dusseldorf Festival, The Barbican Theatre (London), Les Nuits de Fourvière (Lyon) and more international dates, to be confirmed. Yaron said we can expect to see it back on home-soil in the future. “It will have at least one season next year [in Australia].”
Adelaide-based composer, Quincy Grant, has contributed the score. He has composed for a diverse range of genres and platforms, and is co-director of The Firm, Australia’s most prolific presenter of new solo and chamber musical works.
Circa strives to remain at the fore of contemporary circus, transcending barriers of language and culture in its universally appealing productions. “We're trying to create the future of circus, we try and make stuff happen and just keep exploring – and questioning – the artform.”
'Il Ritorno' will perform at Brisbane Powerhouse 8-12 September.
