It was one five-second glimpse of a small child in Nepal which created the look and aesthetic of Finnish contemporary circus practitioners Race Horse Company’s latest show.

“Between two houses there was this one house surrounded by loads of s***,” says company co-founder Petri Tuominen, recalling his time travelling in 2005.

“In the middle of it all was this small kid, looking at a view with 3D glasses.

“I just saw the mess and the futuristic glasses and it was the starting point of the show. It made me think there’s always hope if you’re ready for it I guess.”

Petit Mal: Concrete Circus is set on a cluttered stage – what Tuominen describes as a junkyard aesthetic – and follows three performers as they go through highly physical routines using the objects scattered around them.

“We wanted to make a show about what we like to do, or what we wanted to see on stage,” says Tuominen.

“Some people will try to explain everything for the audience – you know, ‘This is my hand and now I’m putting it in my pocket’. I believe it’s enough to have symbols.

“If somebody starts to look and want to explain what it is they are seeing that’s fine – sometimes we can’t explain it, sometimes we can.”

He describes the show as more like a movie than an interactive experience.

“It doesn’t matter if the audience is there or not – we would still be doing the same thing. The show is really for us – we are in our own reality and the audience doesn’t exist for us.”

Among the highlight moments are pieces performed on a trampoline – “one of us is great at trampoline so of course it’s in there” – while a dream sequence sees the trio playing around with giant fitness balls.

Action-packed

“It’s just 70 action-packed minutes,” says Tuominen. “There’s no philosophy behind it, we aren’t trying to explain anything, you come to see what’s happening.”

Tuominen and fellow founder Rauli Kosonen first met while studying circus skills in Sweden, deciding to form their own contemporary circus company in 2007.

They were joined by Kalle Lehto the following year. The trio started developing their first 30-minute show, Rusty Road Circus, with Circo Aereo’s artistic director Maksum Komaro, which toured Scandinavia in the summer of 2009.

Petit Mal, its follow-up, was first premiered in 2010 and has since been performed across the world. The use of a three-strong company on stage was largely to keep costs down.

“We had just started as a company,” says Tuominen. “If there are too many people in the show it makes it expensive. Similarly, if you don’t have live music it’s easier to tour.”

It’s a testament to how successful the touring show has been that their next production, currently set to premiere in May, will feature six performers on stage and a further three technicians.

“We have the conditions to make more massive shows,” says Tuominen. “We know more about the basics now and have more experience, which makes it easier.

“Touring is the main thing we want to do – we have put so much energy, money and effort into it we want to take it out and show people.

“Hopefully we can tour it for the next two to five years if the show is good. If not we’ll have a big depression and difficult year after the premiere!”