Flown

Brighton Dome Concert Hall, Church Street, Saturday, December 19, to Sunday, December 27

NEXT year marks the fifth anniversary of Pirates Of The Carabina’s anarchic aerial show Flown.

Initially commissioned as a late-night entertainment in Glastonbury Festival’s big top for the Worthy Farm festival’s 2011 edition, it has now grown into a touring beast, mixing live music, stunt work, aerial expertise and a dollop of humour.

For its return to Brighton – having appeared as part of the 2014 Festival in May – Flown has been reimagined with Christmas in mind.

“It’s the first time we’ve done this over Christmas,” says co-director Jade Dunbar, who commissioned the original show as producer of Glastonbury’s Big Top.

“It’s been an exciting development for us to take the show and give it a new twist. People who have already seen it will see something new.”

Best described as organised chaos, Flown tells the loose story of a touring circus ensemble who are caught out by curtain up, but ensure the show still goes on.

From an aerialist forced to iron her dress while still carrying out her act, to romantic assignations and petty rivalries between different cast members everything is played out in front of the audience.

“We have spent a lot of time on the technical side developing rigs and stunts,” says Dunbar.

“But it still comes back to the original premise of the show. Often when you watch another show the technical side is behind the scenes. We put it on stage - even the throwaway technical moments. The more complicated moves are always fun to do.

“We have no backstage as such – once the performers are on stage they are on stage throughout the production. It’s exciting to include people in all the elements of a stage production, as long as you show them in the right way.

“We have worked very hard to show the diversity of skills we use – not just circus, but also the technical skills behind them. We like to show people how it all works – some people come back two, three or four times and see something new on each show.”

A thread running through the Brighton Festival 2014 performance was the diva-esque performer The Incredible Gloria – who entered the stage on her own horse-drawn chariot, only to for her performance to rile up her fellow cast members.

“The whole premise is of us being a troupe which has been together for a very long time,” said co-director Shaena Brandel at the time.

“There are moments where a character is fed up with watching the same person doing an act again for the millionth time and so starts to sabotage it.”

In the Brighton Festival show Gloria managed to complete her act – but not perhaps in the way she wanted to.

An additional attraction for this show – aside from Christmas elements which Dunbar wants to keep secret until the Brighton performances – is the presence of two new performers, who will change the dynamic of the team on stage, as well as adding their own distinctive personalities.

“It’s about allowing the performers to shine and throw a little bit of themselves in there,” says Dunbar. “We have the essence of the performers there. Each character contains a part of the person playing them.

“They are predominantly physical performers which will give a new dimension to the show and demonstrate new skills sets. They are bringing a lot of acrobalance, dance movements and floor work to the show. It will ground the show for us, as well as having some of the flying stuff going on.”

It feeds into how the show was developed initially.

“Although it says the show was co-directed by James Williams it was co-devised by the company,” says Dunbar. “It’s about letting the performers show the best parts of their skills.”

The performers also talk to the audience through onstage monologues explaining some of their character’s history, thoughts and feelings about what they are doing, and the fatigue they feel from life on the road. The spoken word element gives a further insight into circus life.

As the show isn’t being performed in a touring big top, or a space controlled by the company, Dunbar says the team always try to take the space they are performing into account.

The open stage of the Dome will be quite different from the traditional proscenium arch design of previous city festival home Theatre Royal Brighton.

“We want it to grow into the space,” says Dunbar, as she prepares to take the show into the Dome the next day for rehearsals.

“It’s an organic show, so it’s important that it fits into the venue, and it is given the best light to shine.

“It’s really exciting for me having commissioned and produced the show from the beginning to see it go on tour and develop, change and evolve to the show it is now.”

That organic nature to the show comes from its very early days in Glastonbury – when Dunbar’s own father was drafted in at the last minute to help bolster the soundtrack.

“We didn’t quite have enough diversity in the musical score,” she remembers. “In rehearsals we felt we needed to add something.

“My father was very good at adlibbing on the saxophone, and had a huge repertoire of music he had written himself. I brought him in for the first shows – I knew he would be fine with a little bit of rehearsal.”

As well as showing their circus skills the performers in Flown all contribute to the musical soundtrack – with the action occasionally stopping to allow the performers a chance to sing together.

“No matter what skill sets they have we find something every member of the cast can play,” says Dunbar.

“It represents what we want to do with the show. It’s so important to have the monologues and the music as well as the performance that people can relate to.”

The cast still has at least half of the performers who helped develop the show from the beginning.

“It’s wonderful to see how individuals have grown and developed their characters,” says Dunbar.

“They have grown as performers and their characters have grown as a result.”

After this Brighton residency Flown has February dates at the Lowry Theatre, in Manchester, and is set to jet off to Bahrain next year, ahead of a further UK tour.

And there are plans to develop a new show over the next 18 months building on the success of Flown.

“We want to start from the beginning again, but we want it to have the same ethos as Flown,” says Dunbar. “We want everything shown on stage, the mechanical aspects and technical side.

“In Flown people come in and are wowed by the skills. There are moments of beauty in the music and different elements – and if the audience can get emotional from that we feel like we have achieved something.

“It’s magical from the moment the audience come in, to the moment they leave – there’s something for everyone of all ages.”

Starts 7.30pm (not Wed 23, Boxing Day or Sun 27, Sat 19 and Sun 3pm, Wed 23 and Sun 27 7pm, Boxing Day 5pm, from £10. Call 01273 709709.