NO SHOW

A show for anyone who has tried, failed and failed better

A review by Abigail Kathleen

No Show is a show that displays the excellent skills, hard work and pressure that female circus performers endure. Listed as a humorous show that will also expose the intense level of hard work and sexism endured by female performers within the acrobatic and circus industry.

Directed by Ellie Dubois, the show is performed by four intensely skilled performance artists of all acrobatic specialities. No Show is a intensely raw performance, it strips back the sequins and glitter and breaks down the dangers of their performances, more specifically the Cyr wheel routine had hearts racing as they detailed possible dangers, the consequences and demonstrations of selective sequences.

Whilst I understand the shows motives of being open and informative, I felt that it was a little lost on me. When you read the tag line above, I was expecting a dynamic show where the women told their stories with energy, showing their incredible skills with enthusiasm but instead it was a very relaxed approach, there were far too many moments were the performers just sat in silence staring at the audience.

There was a feature where performer, Kate McWilliams, shared her experience during her spell on the TV Show “Tumble”, the entire scene reminded me of an AA meeting, a lot of pausing for effect, and it strongly (in my own opinion) came across as a pity party scene. Now I’m not stone hearted, I felt her frustrations as she enlightened us on how the men were given bigger tricks while the women were given dainty routines….even though they were all equally trained and capable. As she told her story and of her qualifications she demonstrated selected tricks she was capable of, yes, yes I know she is informing us of the sexism she experienced but i just felt that the sequence could have been more dynamic rather than a poor me performance.

Through out the 65 minute show I found myself getting frustrated with the treatment of one particular performer, Alice, she was constantly being silenced and forced to perform tricks, forever being pushed to do better as what ever she did, was never good enough. This is purposely done throughout the performance to show and remind us the intense pressure female performers and constantly put under.

After a spectacular scene where one performer, Fran, is hung by her hair and puts on a display of strength and artistry has she swings around gracefully (who know swinging by your hair could be graceful?) but it truly looked like she was moving under water, all four girls wrap the show up, by eating donuts whilst watching the audience.

A show for female empowerment, the occasional giggle, outstanding display of acrobatics.