The Screaming Goats Collective will present a grief driven story through the moving medium of circus
By Hannah Caparino, November 29 2024—
The Screaming Goats Collective and Femmes du Feu Creations will be presenting a circus double-bill show called “Free Falling” that will mystify audiences through the captivating storytelling medium of circus and aerial arts. The double-bill show, “Fish at the Bottom of the Sea” and “In the Fire”, will be performed at the cSpace Marda Loop. Leda Davies, the Creative Lead, spoke with The Gauntlet about the creative process and connecting themes between the two shows.
“Both shows deal with themes of death and grief. The first show in the evening is called ‘In the Fire’ and it’s produced by Femmes du Feu and performed by Holly Benedetti and it’s essentially her telling the story of her father who was a firechief in Winnipeg,” she said. “The other piece is ‘Fish at the Bottom of the Sea’ and it tells the story of Eve who lost her lover in a car crash, and they both use contemporary circus and aerial apparatuses to help tell the stories.”
Davies explained how both shows underwent an extensive development process. Specifically, with “Fish at the Bottom of the Sea”, Davies discussed the process of connecting to the director, curating the script to fit the circus medium, and then presenting it at the Alberta Circus Festival. Both Davies and Benedetti had reflected on the themes of death and grief, as well as learned how to present it in a visual medium like circus.
“‘Fish at the Bottom of the Sea’ was actually written a long time ago in 2008 by Nicole Schafenacker, and she wrote it as a way to cope with her own personal grief that she was going through,” said Davies. “Liz Hobbs, who is the director of the show, presented me with a script as an option for some of the research that I was doing, which was combining circus and theatre together. And we all got together to mount the show using the circus as a medium for helping tell the story.”
While the heavy themes may be the core of the story, the circus and aerial elements aid in telling the story in an engaging manner. The training and work required to both entertain and convey deep messaging is an intense balancing act between portraying raw emotions and displaying aerial skills. Davies spoke on how both she and Benedetti are experienced in the art form of circus and have the training to best tell their respective stories.
“The aerial aspect hasn’t really been a challenge. I mean, both Holly and I have been doing circus for a really long time. […] So I would say that the challenge you would face with aerial circus is that it requires constant training,” said Davies.
One of the goals of the Screaming Goats Collective is to use circus to discuss social change. Davies acknowledges that circus is a different storytelling medium and explores how audiences can open themselves up to circus and take part in conversations that may be difficult to process.
“We invited the ‘Being Human Club’ which is a collective feminist and trauma informed therapists in the city to help us facilitate a post-show talk back at the end of every performance so that we can keep the conversation going and really make sure that we’re giving the audience an opportunity to decompress and talk about what they just saw because it’s a really unique form of storytelling,” said Davies.
In terms of introducing people to the circus, the performances by Davies and Benedetti are being displayed in a more intimate and closed space in comparison to bigger circus shows. The circus element and movements makes the show a more personal form of storytelling and is the most alleviating feature of the show, with the movement complimenting each respective story.
For final thoughts, Davies commented on the company’s first production in Calgary after being based in Montreal.
“This is my first time my company is presenting its work here … There’s the personal element to get to share that with my community that I grew up in and to get to bring back to Calgary a version of circus that it doesn’t usually get to see is really special to me,” said Davies.
“Free Falling” will be playing at the cSpace Marda Loop from Nov. 28 – 30. For tickets and information, click here.