“…a powerful vision of humanity.”
– THE AUSTRALIAN, AUS
A powerful physical poem of absence and separation. Against a stark black wall, acrobats strive to connect with each other, while music from Monteverdi’s opera Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria is played and sung by a live chamber ensemble.
Akin to a physical poem, the staging sees six highly skilled artists precariously lift, hold, levitate and fall, their movements driven by the forces of desire, devastation and absence. At the core of this show is the hunger to return home – saturated with loss and war, powered by longing and haunted by the past.
About
World premiere Brisbane, Australia 2015
Performers 13
Duration 75 minutes
Reviews
★★★★★ “I’ve seen grief many times on stage, but seldom have I seen it depicted so well.” – The Guardian | View
“Even the disciplined Barbican audience gasped under its collective breath… extraordinary.”- The Arts Desk | View
“The Return elevates contemporary circus beyond entertainment… sublime” – This is Cabaret | View
Acknowledgments
ll Ritorno is co-commissioned by Brisbane Festival, The Barbican, Les Nuits de Fourvière, Espace Jean Legendre, Théâtre de Compiègne – Scène nationale de l’Oise en prefiguration, Dusseldorf Festival and Les Théâtres de la ville de Luxembourg and was first presented at the Brisbane Festival.
Director Yaron Lifschitz
Composer, Musical Director & Arranger Quincy Grant
Composers John Barber, Quincy Grant, Jakub Jankowski, Claudio Monteverdi, Cornel Wilczek
Technical Director & Lighting Designer Jason Organ
Stage Design Yaron Lifschitz, Jason Organ
Costume Designer Libby McDonnell
Producer Danielle Kellie
International Representation
Allen Moon / David Lieberman Artists’ Representatives USA, Canada, Central & South America
Antonin Coutouly / Book Your Show France
Danielle Kellie / Circa Australia & New Zealand
Shaun Comerford / Circa Commercial Projects
Wolfgang Hoffmann / Aurora Nova Worldwide booking & coordination
Yaron Lifschitz / Circa New creations & big dreams
Circa acknowledges the assistance of the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body and the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.
Circa respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands on which we work and live paying respects to Elders past, present and future.