WHEN Australian circus trio Head First Acrobats arrived in Brighton last week their first job was to build their set.

“It costs so much to ship things over we were better off making a new one and leaving it in the UK for the next time,” says Thomas Gorham, who formed the troupe with fellow acrobat Cal Harris for a show at the Adelaide Fringe Festival.

“Apart from a couple of changes we will build it to be as similar to what we had back home as possible.”

Elixir tells the story of three scientists looking for the secret of ever-lasting life.

The linking narrative, which runs throughout the performance, was inspired by a zombie breakdancing piece Gorham created for his showcase at Circus School.

“I wanted to create a show which justified the creation of that act. We came up with many ideas, a zombie apocalypse, or a science laboratory gone wrong. The piece is the pivotal moment in the show – where the structure changes into madness and everything gets absurd,” he says.

Narrative was always important when it came to creating the piece.

“Lots of circus shows are airy,” says Gorham. “Narrative can be non-existent. It can be mysterious and beautiful, but a lot of times it can be lost on the audience. I wanted this to be an action packed show where everyone leaves having had a good time.”

The comedy element was there from the beginning, but was upped with the arrival of the third member of the team. Rowan Thomas had trained with Cal at Circus School as a clown, as well as being an expert in the giant wheel the roué cyr.

“He was basically the catalyst to completely restructure the show,” says Gorham. “He turned it into an acrobatic comedy show, rather than just an acrobatic show. We have equal amounts of comedy and acrobatics now.”

Gorham is looking forward to performing in the Spiegeltent’s smaller venue the Bosco Theater, which resembles the venue where they launched the show in Australia.

“It’s good to be right up against the audience,” he says. “There’s nothing better than balancing on one arm doing a handstand with someone sitting only 50cm away.

“You can see them sitting back in their chair as if you’re going to fall!”

Spiegeltent Bosco Theater, Old Steine Pleasure Gardens, Friday, May 22, to Sunday, May 31 Starts Fri 22 to Wed 27 9.30pm, Thurs 28 3.30pm, Fri 29 to Sun 31 7.30pm, tickets from £8/£6. Call 01273 917272.