The Night Circus- Written Requirements

What is Physical Theatre?

A form of theatre which emphasizes the use of physical movement, as in dance and mime, for expression. - Google.

Physical theatre can sometimes appear as dance. The performers use the physicality of their bodies to immitate settings and props and characters - displaying a storyline to the audience.

Physical theatre skills consists of lifting, carrying, building shape and physical objects. It is often performed in a abstract style using movement in a stylised and representational way.

Practitioners such as DV8 are well known for using physical theatre to explore complex aspects of human relationships and social cultural issues. Their work is often described as existing crossroads where dance, sound and drama meet.

Some forms physical theatre combines dialogue and physical movement, for example a major company in physical theatre , called Frantic Assembly use this technique. They use a substantial  amount of dialogue for the play but the impact and effect is a result of the movement used.

The Night Circus:

The Night Circus is a fantasy novel written in 2011. The author of the american novelist is called Erin Morgenstern. The story tells us of a mystical circus called “Le Cirque des Rêves” (The Circus Of Dreams). This particular Circus appears without notice and leaves without warning. The Circus has fans who refer to themselves as dreamers - they are intrigued by this circus so much as if they are in a trance. However the story truly unfolds when their is civil rivalry within the circus. Two powerful magicians groom two protégés to go head to head on stage to prove the better performer therefore proving the better teacher. The competition continues, with no sign of finishing, no sign of losing and no sign of a winner being determined. The competition begins to effect other performers and spills into peoples personal lives , provoking anger and revenge. No one can leave the circus.

When I think of The Night Circus, I invision couple driving down a long, dark ,deserted road and their car breaks down on the road side. Alongside the road is a deep forest, filled with endless trees. The couple think they’ve noticed a flickering light within this forest and think it’s help. So they venture into the darkness, until they stumble across a balloon - just floating in mid- air, with no owner, but silence. The girl goes to grab the ribbon attached to the balloon and without warning the circus appears in front of them in full effect. However they are the only ones at the circus, their are no other people trying to go to the circus, the gates open. The couple nervously head towards the gates, they were scared but they were so deep into the forest there was no way of finding their car, they prayed this would be the aid they needed. They took a step inside and the gates violently closed behind them. The circus disappears.


How does the movement help to tell the story?

Just like Frantic Assembly, we used dialogue combined with movement. Although the narration told the story, we showed the story. We didn’t allow the audience to think for them selves, we wanted them to engage into this mystical tale. The music helped create an atmosphere in the room, it sets a tone of mood because of it’s eerie effect it tell the audience something daunting is going to happen. The lighting helps with the speed of things. This circus is dark and mysterious, full of hidden secrets, the lightening captures key parts of our movement therefore bringing the darkness to light. It keeps the audience interested as they don’t want to miss anything. It sets a schedule for us as performers to know where we need to be when we need to be in order for the performance to be effective for example : “then comes the light” the light is cued and we immediately raise our heads to look, this is effective because it makes it more believable. We narrated the piece ourselves, we had to use our best scary story telling voice, for me, I tried to keep my voice quiet but clear, because I felt that it implemented the impression that I was telling a secret or a warning of a terrible tale. It also helps the audience to stay concentrated and understand the movement, otherwise it would just be a elaborate piece, with lifts and running and abstract movement they wouldn’t understand.