SPECTACLE:Keep a lookout for the Sensazione funfair - it may soon be coming to a festival near you, writes Fiona McCann
AN ECO-FRIENDLY, theatrically innovative, heart-pumping, people-powered carnival with circus performers, storytellers, clairvoyants and cocktails, not to mention a journey under somebody's petticoats - it's a safe bet that nothing like Sensazionehas made its way to these shores in quite some time. The brainchild of Belgian Peter De Bie, whose company, Laika, is also responsible for such sensual theatrical experiences as Peep&Eatand Patatboem, the Sensazioneconcept finally became reality when Charlotte Heller of Time Circus came aboard.
"Our dreams were too big to do alone, so we came together," explains De Bie of the happy match that produced the full-on performance experience that is Sensazione. When the theatrics of Laika joined the merry machinists of Time Circus, a search for spare parts and a four-month stint in a castle in Portugal finally yielded the eco-freak hybrid that is on its way to various festivals around Ireland this summer.
Reminiscent of the old-style funfair experience, where wildly dressed carnies and troupers peddle their wares and use every technique to entice you onto their rides, Sensazione is a troupe of 14 performers and machine operators - including the handsome ringmaster, the lady who can't stop dancing, the clairvoyant gypsy and the invisible man - who wander among audience members and lure them into their tents. Even the extravagant gateway doubles as a ride, with the public invited to pedal across the thin tightrope strung under the circus signage to bang the gong and join in the general cacophony that marks this energised affair.
And it's this energy, generated in the friction between public and performer, that is used to power the entire show, with the audience running on hamster-wheels or pedalling static bikes to ensure the big wheel turns and the lamps are powered. As much a chance to work off the excess energy garnered from the sugary Caipirinhas served by the delightful fortune-teller's sidekick, these innovative machines use no batteries or outside power sources, marking Sensazioneout as the lowest- impact, high-octane funfair experiences around.
These carbon-footprint-free machines address the ecological concerns raised by funfairs, which are notorious energy-drainers, with lights and machines gobbling up electricity. They also embody a belief that involving members of the audience, even to the point where they are powering their own rides, helps to break down barriers between performer and public. "For me, the force of theatre is the fact that every time you perform you have this live contact," explains De Bie.
The question of how to harness the force produced by contact with the audience and use it to power the show has been spectacularly resolved, ensuring that this funfair looks like none you've ever seen before.
One of the most popular rides, the Globascope, resembles two pairs of connected wooden hamster-wheels containing a member of the audience whose forward or backward motion dictates its speed and direction, while the merry-go-round looks like a ballooning dress, underneath which emerge the centipedal legs of the audience powering its movement in Flintstones'fashion.
The rides, tents, and even the imposing gateway are all constructed from recycled material, sourced at old funfairs and reconditioned to construct Sensazione. Its creators even went so far as to import an old washing machine from New Zealand to help harness the power generated by spirited audience members. "Once it's set up, you can put it in the desert and it will function," explains De Bie. "It's powered by the public."
Those who find the heights daunting, yet are unconvinced by the promise of a mini-workout at the bottom of the big wheel, have plenty of other options to choose from, including stepping inside the Spiegeltent, where their future romances are predicted by a feisty fortune-teller, or climbing under the petticoats of the troupe's proclaimed beauty, who will fill you with tales of her personal woes as her skirts take you spinning. The big tent itself is home to stories of magic and fantasy, given a quirky and eccentric twist by the enthusiastic cast, all of whom perform in English, despite hailing from Belgium and Portugal.
The audience can pick and choose between acts and events, and can get involved to their hearts' content, but the importance of participation in the overall spectacle is paramount, says De Bie. "What's very special about Sensazione is that it functions on the energy of the public," he says simply.
When it garners the physical, mental and emotional investment of an enthusiastic full house, the result can be magical. "You know when you are a child and you go to a fair; you know the excitement of that?" asks Heller, who along with De Bie operates one of the machines during the 90-minute show. "I wished for adults to have that again. It's such a powerful feeling." Powerful enough to drive an entire funfair.
Sensazionewill be in Youghal Town Centre, June 19th-22nd, and Mardyke Walk in Cork City, June 26th-29th, for the Cork Midsummer Festival; in Tipperary, July 9th-12th, for the Clonmel Junction Festival; and in Letterkenny, from July 17th-20th, for the Earagail Arts Festival.