Tess

I watched a circus performance this evening that made me cry: Ockham's Razor's production of Tess (of the D'Urbervilles).

How could circus, usually glitzy spectacle, possibly make an audience feel the stresses of being a poor mother elbow-deep in washing with exuberant children tripping round her legs; the anguish of the death of the family horse and thereby their livelihood; the exhaustion of a long walk up hills, through mud and across streams and, later, back again; the arrogance of an encircling predator; the grief and fear at the death of an unbaptised baby; the impishness of flirtation; love; abandonment?

They did it all. The set was simple and powerful (the scaffolding planks were everything), the music was perfect and I barely noticed the lighting which means it must have complemented everything else.

The performances were superb and the physical strength of those women dancers/acrobats was awesome.

If theatre, circus, drama, dance or literature are your thing, find a way to see it:
Wed 5th & Thur 6th March - Oxford Playhouse
Tue 11th & Wed 12th March - Theatre Royal Winchester
Tue 18th March - Corn Exchange Newbury
Thu 20th March - Lighthouse Poole
Tue 25th & Wed 26th March - Cast Doncaster
Wed 2nd April - Hall for Cornwall
Thu 24th-Sat 26th May - Hay Castle
Wed 28th-Sat 31st May - Leeds Playhouse
Thu 5th-Sat 7th June - Home Manchester