WOLF – quick links
Fresh from wowing audiences overseas, Brisbane’s own Circa returns home with WOLF, a fearless exploration of the animal within us all.
Circa has long been at the forefront of contemporary circus, challenging expectations of what circus can be. In its inaugural seven-month run at Berlin’s Chamäleon Theatre, WOLF set new attendance records, marking the theatre’s highest-grossing season on record. The opening night at QPAC also marked the opening of a return season in Berlin.
WOLF: extraordinary performances
Circa’s Artistic Director Yaron Lifschitz leads the WOLF pack in an extraordinary performance of sheer athleticism fusing contemporary dance, high-level acrobatics and physical theatre into two opposing acts.
The tone is set before the curtain rises. As the audience enters, wolf animations and imagery are projected onto the black curtain, reminding us how these creatures have been depicted across pop culture. Whether in Little Red Riding Hood or a Looney Tunes cartoon, wolves have long been cast as the villain. Yet WOLF challenges that narrative, showing us how they also mirror our own instincts for survival, community and belonging.
The curtain lifts to reveal a performer suspended in the air on aerial straps. Like a trapped animal, she wriggles and twists in extraordinary shapes, freeing herself onto stage.
As more of the ensemble enter the space, they seem wary of each other, sizing each other up like animals would, the ever-present tug of fight or flight. Even when ensemble member Lachlan Sukroo balances the weight of six others in a human pyramid, the power balance feels precarious, as if dominance could shift at any moment.
WOLF: steamy!
Soon things get steamy. Berlin-based sound designer Ori Lichtik’s pulsing techno soundscape takes over. Suddenly, we’re in what feels like a smoke-filled discotheque.
Propelling one performer into the air turns into a dance party with wild limbs morphing into funny drunken movements and mating rituals. Thrusting and writhing on top of one another, one wonders if an intimacy coordinator was consulted. It’s sexy, and the audience can’t look away.
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The ensemble are as playful as animals can be, exploring each others boundaries with puppy biting and fighting.
As trust builds, so does the risk, with both men and women lifting above their weight. Lisa Goldsworthy is a standout, balancing two men on her shoulders, but the grace of aerialist Shea Baker is just as powerful. Rotations, twists, flips and handstands ripple through the ensemble in a kind of controlled madness.
A minimalist set of pale timber floor and a white wall cuts the stage in two planes, low and high, allowing Alex Berlage’s lighting to shine luminous focus for every lift and aerial.
WOLF: the costumes.
Designer Libby McDonnell’s stripped back costumes of black and tan expose the physicality of the performers, helping to carve shapes in the striking light.
Act Two is the evolution from lone wolves to unified pack. Choreography intensifies with pulsing energy and astounding physicality. Working as one, they become more menacing and dangerous in movement and stunts. Hands reach into open mouths and all release primal sounds. It’s circus, raw yet undeniably refined.
The ground-to-air group sequences are among the show’s most thrilling. Bodies are launched skyward and caught with a split-second precision that leaves the audience audibly gasping. Human pyramids rise and fall, now with more power and strength, even the trapeze artist is supported by the pack. The trust between performers shows why wolves survive out in the wilderness.
WOLF: saving the best for last
The finale saves the best for last with soaring lifts, midair splits and dizzying throws that defy belief. The pack is stronger together, and they know it.
WOLF is not about tricks for their own sake. There’s an undercurrent of humanity throughout, a study in what separates or doesn’t separate us from the animal world.
Circa has once again redefined what contemporary circus can be, not by fanfare or even ferocity, but deep human connection shared by the ensemble onstage.
