30 September – 1 October

There’s more than one way to skin a cat, so the adage goes and in the arts that saying is undoubtedly an article of faith, one of the metaphors we live by. We can tell stories, create moods, express emotions in any one of a myriad of ways. Thus when Nellie the Elephant left the circus her place was soon taken up by a new generation of circus performers whose aims were to explore the expressive possibilities of the hard won skills that were beginning to be taught in new kinds of performance schools.  Connections with other performance arts were soon recognised and these are now regularly explored and incorporated. To categorise iD Reloaded as a ‘mere’ circus act thus does scant justice to the creativity and expressive power of the company.

Pulling together the various talents of; aerial silks, Cyr Wheel (hoop), juggling, trial bike (sic), Chinese pole dance and a contortionist (Alexia Medesan) into some kind of coherent whole is a feat that relies on the additional creative input from set and sound design, musical composition, video and projection design, costume and lighting. The show is a true collaboration. The urban setting with ever changing back projections of a cold inner city is the backdrop to the humanity that is irrepressibly on the lookout for ways to express its inner need for connection and expression.

There is a nod to West Side Story with a confrontation between gangs that leads straightway into some impossible seeming jumps and rotations on the pole. Confrontation gives way to competition, hip hop and break-dance ‘battle’ transmutes aggression into artistic output. Whilst room is given to the set pieces of each skill hardly any are done without some kind of emotional content. The story, such as it is, hints at the potential in an overlooked or easily dismissed area of city life, the street arts that offer an outlet for the need to connect with our fellows and the environment we find ourselves in.

Whilst the music drives things along with urgency it flexes its own possibilities allowing moments of grace and static athleticism of Olympian levels. The juggling of JP Deltell was at times simply mind-boggling with combinations of balls in motion it was difficult to comprehend. Then, as if there was not jeopardy enough a member of the audience (I was convinced) was brought on to provide an obstacle for the trial bike rider (Trevor Bodogh) who teased with the possibility of (ahem) bodily injury.

From start to finish the show is fizzing with supercharged creative energy that is never short of inspiring.

★★★★☆    Graham Wyles   1st October 2025

Photography credit:  Caroline Thibault