Ahead of her work in The Albany's Summer Arts project, Vicki Amedume talks to Naima Khan about the poetic potential of circus and its place in mainstream British theatre.
Vicki Amedume is a bit of a revelation to theatre in the UK. At a time when circus is finding its feet in mainstream venues, her knowledge of what it takes to create a mini-spectacle along with her love of poetry and physicality all combine to create something not often seen on British stages. Before she launches into The Albany's Summer Arts 2011 project, she talks to me about the changing face of circus and what emerging artists bring to the form.
Lagging slightly behind puppetry in its foray into theatre shows, “it's taken a long time for circus to be taken seriously as an expressive form” she tells me. As artistic director of Upswing, she notices an an increase in collaboration between regular theatre companies and physical theatre companies: “More and more we're being approached to share our knowledge of circus and understand the way it can work with theatre partly because circus sits within that visual theatre world.”
And that's what captivates Vicki, not necessarily the words but the visual impact they can have, which is something she demonstrates in her aerial silk show Skin, a physical theatre show performed simultaneously with poetry. “It's a piece about falling in love” she says, “a very obvious connection. The character talks about falling into something, letting yourself go, tumbling through emotions, and circus is brilliant for creating very powerful visual metaphors.”
But like all new art forms, it risks becoming a gimmick and Vicki believes “that happens with everything. It happened quite extensively with puppetry but fortunately enough people were making good shows with puppets for people not to be turned off by it. Circus has the appeal of danger and that risk factor. But now there's enough understanding of its potential for people to think very carefully about when and how they want to use it.”
Use of circus in British theatre is likely to become less to do with creating a spectacle a la Race Horse Company and Cirque du Soleil and more about creating a metaphor like Circa. Trained in traditional circus in France, Amedume has a lot of respect for the skill and effort involved in creating an extravaganza. “The French have less interest in linear narrative” she says, “it's very much about the poetics and the moments and the magic whereas in the UK we tend to have more of an interest in narrative storytelling. We have a real need to put the pieces together, to receive a clear message. But with French circus it's almost as though people don't care if you don't get it, it just has to look amazing, feel poetic and connect with the audience in some way and everyone is happy to go with their own interpretation.”
Alongside spoken word artist Polar Bear, recording artist and producer GoldieLocks, graphic artist Gareth Bayliss, and The Institute of Music and Technology, Vicki's next project will be working on youth arts programme Summer Arts at The Albany. Click here for more details.
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