Ezra Trigg is the founder and director of Gorilla Circus who are performing Unity – a large-scale aerial work as the finale of Certain Blacks Ensemble Festival on Saturday July 22 and Sunday July 23.
Unity merges immersive theatre, circus and community stories in a powerful but intimate way, allowing audiences to be close to and in amongst the action. Expect high wire walks, trapeze, hair hanging, an original soundtrack and words created through collaboration with a local poet. Unity is a reflection on community, an act of protest, a call for change and a dream for the future.
More information can be found here
You’re performing UNITY as the finale of Certain Blacks ensemble festival, what can you tell us about the performance?
UNITY is a reflection on community, an act of protest, a call for change and a dream for the future, a large-scale production that merges immersive theatre, circus and community stories in a powerful but intimate way. Spread over a 60m area, with a structure consisting of four towering points linked together by cables from which a variety of aerial artists are suspended and travel overhead, allowing audiences to be close to and in amongst the action.
In each location a local poet is recruited to work with the community to create a unique piece of text which is mixed into the existing music to create the soundtrack for the show.
The poem and show are divided into 3 sections:
The first section is focused on the past, what struggles have communities faced or overcome? Do people feel listened to? What positive or negative outcomes have there been?
The second section is a call to action, what kind of society do we want to live in? What needs to change and how can we achieve it?
Finally the third section focuses on the positivity of unified communities striving for a common goal, what makes people proud of their area? What is their vision for the future?
The poem featured for this performance has been put together by acclaimed poet, artist & broadcaster The Repeat Beat Poet, and participants of a free poetry workshop which took place at Community Links in Newham at the beginning of July.
Tell us a little more about Gorilla Circus and what you do?
We are an independent, modern circus production company that has been running for 15 years delivering interactive, unique and contemporary work on custom-built staging.
Historically we’ve delivered high-adrenaline large scale aerial shows, though more recently we have diversified to ground-based works including a great new project called ‘RPM’ which questions our country’s Colonial past and how it affects society today, drawing stylistically from street art culture and hip hop with dancers, skaters and acrobats who move amongst one another on a giant, custom built conveyor belt.
Our work often depicts a discussion around a particular global issue, and we want for our audiences to come away from our shows with their own impression formed and something to think about.
How did you get involved with Certain Blacks?
Clive Lyttle, the artistic director of Certain Blacks, randomly walked past one of our flying trapeze rigs in Battersea Park back in 2014. At the time Clive was working for the Arts Council as a relationship manager and gradually encouraged us to apply for public funding to support some of the shows we were creating. Clive has been a long term supporter of both our company and the UK circus scene so when he reached out about Ensemble Festival we couldn’t say no!
What have you enjoyed most about working with them?
As relative newcomers to the festival scene it’s been great to see and participate in their journey of programming larger pieces of work- we look forward to seeing what the next steps will be!
And what inspired UNITY?
UNITY was originally conceived as a one off protest piece against the government corruption and social inequality that the COVID pandemic exposed. We commissioned a Liverpudlian poet, Ellis Howard, to write a piece and performed the work on the beach in Great Yarmouth. It was a great setting against waves, sand and the amusement pier and to our delight people wanted more of it so we’ve developed the piece for touring.
What would you say to anyone thinking of booking to see UNITY?
Come with an open mind, wide eyes and listen to the perspectives that the local community want to express.
