Dramaturgy is Stinky: Circus Trick Tease @ Edfringhe 2016

Children are Stinky

Aug 4 - Aug 29

Performance time - 12:35

Duration: 45 minutes

Assembly George Square Gardens - Piccolo Tent

Children are Stinky is a show to be seen. Set in the 90's (with all our favourite tracks) this extremely talented duo will prove once and for all that Children are stinky.

Packed with lots of fun, lighting fast Hula Hooping, dare devil balances, astounding strength, incredible acrobatics and loads of comedy, Children are Stinky will have both adults and kids with their jaws on the floor wanting to see more. 

Acclaimed companies Circus Trick Tease and Three High Acrobatics join forces to create a show with equal measures of high calibre circus, anarchy and hilarity to suit an audience of all ages. 


What was the inspiration for this performance?
In my experience, Children’s theatre/circus tend to only cater for children and the work is way too nice. I wanted to make cheeky challenging show where the parents fully enjoy themselves as much as the kids… after all, they are the ones paying for the tickets. We had parents bring their kids twice at the Adelaide Fringe!

How did you go about gathering the team for it?
I actually just asked the most talented acrobat/performer i knew. I was totally floored when he said that he’s always wanted to work with me. We were both so excited whole piece formed ridiculously quickly.

How did you become interested in making performance?
I would love to say something deep and meaningful here, but I’m really just a total show off. I love seeing the delight in peoples faces when you perform circus, people are astounded by the ext ram physicality of it. People's jaws literally drop when i stand on someones head or pick up 40 hula hoops.

Was your process typical of the way that you make a performance?
I will day dream about a show for a full year before i even think about a season. I need to know exactly why at every turn, especially with circus where it is easy to just throw some acrobatics in. When i know all the "whys" i’ll book a season, rehearsal space, cast and set (in that order) and smash out an intense 3 week rehearsal where we play and laugh a lot to find all the joy and funny in the questions and answers.

What do you hope that the audience will experience?
I wanted to challenge children in this show so the name itself is challenging. Children arrive to the show ready for battle and we give them one. We tell them they are lazy, scared, uncoordinated and invite the kids to prove us wrong. It’s really quite incredible to see children come up on stage and standing up for themselves and all the kids in the audience with such strength and assertion. Kids walk out of the show bursting with pride and giggles.


What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience?
We had a lot of kids come to our rehearsals so we could gauge how far we could push it. There is a delicate balance where kids will turn on you pretty quickly if you go too far. We spent a long time considering the parents and making sure their experience of the show was extremely enjoyable. We performed exerts from the show at local cabarets to ensure our comic timing and tricks hit the mark.

Do you see your work within any particular tradition?
The show is a parody of a “classic children’s show” formula turning it into a high and low states comedy, moving from both between the performers and amidst the performers and the audience. There are also some elements of buffoon clowning and parody of traditional circus acts.