The award-winning Casus Circus presents 'You & I' in an exclusive Midsumma Festival (Melbourne) event.
'You & I' combines high level acrobatics, trapeze and dance in a celebration of identity and the loving relationship between two men – Jesse Scott and Lachlan McAulay.The show provides a fresh and positive take on the queer narrative – where their stories are not consumed by tragedy, but filled with conviction and acceptance.
Casus are known for their shows delving into human connection, cultural diversity and intelligent choreography. The company are made up of 16 acrobats in total and tour three casts internationally.
Jesse and Lachlan from 'You & I' answer some questions about the performance, playing at Midsumma Festival.
For both of you, tell us about 'You & I'.
'You & I' centres around love, friendship and acceptance. These are simple concepts but not often told with two men. We explore identity and self and the preconceived ideas of what being a gay man means.
What have been some of the rewards for each of you in putting this show together?
After the show has come down we often get people (gay or straight) sticking around to personally thank us for our performance. This is always a wonderful thing for us to hear and solidifies the reasons we are telling this story. It’s also a whole lot of fun performing together.
What is your favourite moment in the show?
This is a very hard question as this moment changes from show to show. It’s always fun to hear the audience’s reactions to some of the more heart-stopping circus skills.
Lachlan, what do you hope people take away from seeing 'You & I'?
A sense of hope for the future. That even in these dark days love can help us overcome fear.
It’s also really nice when people say they forgot the show was about two gay men in love and just saw two people in love.
Image © Katie Bennett
And Jesse, why do you think a show like this is important?
We still live in a world full of inequality and fear, so I think it’s very important for people to watch a show, even just for an hour, that helps them forget these things. The more we tell our stories of hope, the better the world will be.
What kinds of circus displays can audiences expect to witness in the show, without giving too much away?
'You & I' is a non-stop ride full of circus skills. There’s only two of us on stage for an hour, so we have trapeze work, handstands, hula hooping, acrobatics, chair balances, dance, and magic.
'You & I' is part of Midsumma. Why do both of you think this show is a good fit for that event?
Midsumma Festival will be the first time 'You & I' is part of a queer festival, which is very exciting for us. We think it will be fantastic for the LGBTQIA+ community to have a show to watch without trauma and tragedy attached.
What are you most looking forward to about presenting the show there?
We both have a lot of friends and family who live in Melbourne, so being able to share the show with them is really exciting. Melbourne also being a very artistic and cultured city is a plus.
