This is certainly not your average circus performance.  A troupe of ‘wombs’ are exploring, celebrating and demonstrating, the female, in the most imaginative of ways. Through comedy, dance, aerial acrobatics and spoken word, we are taken on a wacky journey through its joys, traumas, mysteries and celebrations.  

The increasingly risqué and sometimes hilarious segues between the suspended silk, bar and hoop displays begin a story around what it means to be a woman. The intensity of the music certainly supports some powerful messages around consent, body shaming and femininity. Hip hop, rap and heftily explicit lyrics provide a pretty hard-hitting soundscape for some final scenes.

The costuming, or sometimes a lack thereof, is certainly worth a mention. My particular favourite is the hot pink metallic unitards that at one point, are donned in unison in a series of carefully choreographed moves.

Each and every performance on the aerial set up is an extremely impressive display of strength and agility.  The stage is hazy and cunningly cross lit, so we witness the spinning, folding and unfolding of bodies through only splashes of light and colour. Floor acts (hoops & cyr wheel) are also mesmerising, again delivered with an engaging presence and precise physicality.

The clever people who devised and brought to life this subject matter are the cast – Eve Gordon, Rochelle Mangan, Adam Rohe, Bethany St John, Jaine Mieka and Ariel Cronin – as well as Jess Holly Bates (the original director) and Hannah Tasker-Poland, and the current director, Eve Gordon.

I absolutely recommend this sometimes bizarre but thoroughly enjoyable show of impressive aerial feats – the absolute beauty of bodies entwined, moving through the air – with a bold message. I leave with a sense of empowerment from these strong, brave bodies in front of me.

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