I bet I can climb that 16-foot ladder with no hands…I dare you to scale to the top of that stack of containers and handstand on the edge…How many people do you think we can fit in that box?

If a contortionist, a strongman, a hand balancer and three other unencumbered circus folk became trapped in a warehouse, I imagine LANDSCAPE WITH MONSTERS is what it would look like.

Each show is an experience unto itself, as the company is a leader in contemporary circus theatre and constantly conceives shows that extend well beyond the bounds of traditional circus practice.

This season- led by Circa’s head artistic director, Yaron Lifschitz– the company has teamed up with the Merrigong Theatre Company to create its first site-specific work, responding directly to the post-industrial landscape of the NSW region. By far one of Circa’s most innovative creations, Lifschitz describes the production as an exploration of how, “landscape is imprinted on our bodies and how we carry it with us.” Definitely reminiscent of the coastal city’s landscape, the show is a visceral and engaging acrobatic exploration of the interaction between civilisation and an industrialised environment; “we dig, we mine, we build, we manufacture…as industries evolve great natural beauty meets the scars of our activities.”

Albeit not as refined as some of Circa’s bigger productions- and with far fewer tricks- this show’s merit lay in its innovative composition and design. LANDSCAPE WITH MONSTERS engages performative art through its thematic lighting, soundscapes, video-art and set design.

“Visually, the show is inspired by living in Wollongong and the kind of terrain that’s unique to that type of environment,” says lighting and AV designer, Toby Knyvett. “In the evening there is always this glow from the steelworks to the south, and you get these early sunsets due to the shadow from the mountains,” images which are cast across the performers throughout the show.

Scenes effortlessly seep into one another, turning the audience’s focus to the fluidity of acrobatic movement as the performers lithely interweave themselves inside, between, under and on-top of the set, as well as one another. Remarkably, LANDSCAPE WITH MONSTERS features 75-minutes of seamless performative circus without engaging a single conventional apparatus. The cast turns a stack of hollow boxes, a ladder and some other precarious objects into their play-things, creating some really hilarious and genuinely frightening acts.

“At the heart of Circa’s work is the raw humanity of the artists – after their skills and physical prowess has passed, you remember the looks in their eyes, the sweat, the fragility of the human body, and their presence as they put it all on the line,” says Lifschitz.

The strengths and struggles of the artists are ever-present in the proximity of the Merrigong Theatre, but it is at times hard to distinguish between the moments of feigned and those of true struggle- but I suppose that’s much of the point. Lulls in humour are quickly filled with serious moments of danger, wherein the acrobats come face-to-face with the hard floor, a startling reminder of the risks that accompany construction workers to their jobs on a daily basis.    

Overall, the show is an unexpected and thoughtful journey through the sounds, sites and atmosphere of workers in South Sydney’s favourite coastal city. The Merrigong’s Artistic Director, Simon Hinton, says the region is excited to host an artist of Lifschitz’s calibre; the show has already engendered interest from arts venues across the globe, but hopefully we’ll be seeing LANDSCAPE WITH MONSTERS touring Australian theatres first.

A  Merrigong Theatre Company and Circa co-production, LANDSCAPE WITH MONSTERS, created by Yaron Lifschitz, the Circa Ensemble and artists of the Illawarra , played a brief season at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre (IPAC) between Thursday  17 March and Sunday 20 March, 2016.