“It’s not my word [infobesity]. It’s an invented portmanteau of information and obesity and it’s just that sense of there being too much information” explains Circus Oz Artistic Director Mike Finch. “That sensation of trying to drink from a fire hose of contemporary data, but it’s impossible to take it on and [then] beaching swamped with [this data] to the point of desensitisation that you end up with so much stimulation that it reduces the ability to think.
“I reckon the contemporary Western world is really suffering for it. It’s just insane what you can pull out of the net, out of any search engine, that would just completely overload any brain. The parallel with food would be like cheese balls. They’re amazing – you get that flavour, that buzz, but there’s actually nothing there…it’s just vacuous and empty.”
It’s a Friday morning and the director is observing the circus crew rehearse outside one of his office windows, fatigued from a passing cold and his trip to Ballarat last night. There he had attended the opening night of the World Sideshow Festival where he “saw some stuff that the human body was not really designed to do”. In the other office window, Finch can see riggers constructing equipment for the But Wait… There’s More season.
This season will be the circus aficionado’s last act as Artistic Director for Circus Oz. Earlier this year, Finch announced he will be retiring from the company after 17 years on Tuesday June 30, a choice that he noted as a natural transition following the complete relocation of Circus Oz to its new Collingwood home – The Melba Spiegeltent has returned, as well as Oz initiatives BLAKflip and Strong Women. Both programs are two initiatives that Finch has been notably involved in, which facilitate and encourage recruitment of more women and Indigenous people to the circus.
“My methodology is about collaboration, interacting with a collective range of people – engineers, technicians, acrobats, performers, designers and so on,” confesses the Director, explaining that these various backgrounds add to the creative process, making it more holistic and unique. Finch goes on to describe how But Wait… There’s More came to fruition last year.
“It was a big process because the building was being completed and we knew that we were starting again in another location.” Arts Victoria was fulfilling its $15 million promise of redeveloping Old Collingwood TAFE specifically for the company, which opened in February 2014. “We hand-picked the ensemble and the casting was nation-wide, looking for some new performers… I wrote a brief for the show, which was a synopsis, but ultimately when you bring this amazing cast of people in, they share their ideas and add their our creativity [to the brief].”
Because of this collaborative process, Finch outlined that it allowed the show to develop organically, into a show that satires advertising with multi-skilled performer Matt Wilson dressed as a human barcode that is trying to sell products to an audience and showcases the absurdity of infobesity with well-timed slapstick.
“I think [audience participation] is a really important thing,” stresses acrobatic, singer, trapeze artist Matt Wilson. “Not just with Circus Oz, but with performing circus in general. There’s always been that audience participation, unlike theatre, where there’s a fourth wall concept. We really try to [remove that] so that it’s totally open – there’s action going on, on stage, but there’s a direction connection with the audience. We’ll address them, look them right in the eye and make them feel like they’re part of this experience.” The human-cannon – yes Will has had stunts as a human cannonball – goes on to detail how audience members have commented about feeling the sweat from acrobats, the breathing of the performers and how viewers have felt they’re within the circus, not mere observers. Maybe this season, audiences may even be close enough to admire Wilson’s luscious moustache that appears to have stumbled out of the late Victorian-Era.
“I don’t know really,” says Wilson, thoughtfully considering his moustache grooming habits. “I sort of keep it trimmed and I use a good quality wax that’s very thick and very gooey and stiff that shapes it the way I want it to go. Yeah, that’s about it, really. No big trade secrets. I haven’t had it for that long though. I’ve been experimenting with it for the past year or so. I don’t have much hair on top of my head, so it’s just about the only hairstyle I can do these days,” concedes Wilson with a laugh.
BY AVRILLE BYLOK-COLLARD
