Theatre

‘Breathtakingly beautiful’ immersive circus to take over rarely-seen area of The Lowry theatre next week

Audiences get to play a vital role in the show "like never before".

Emily Sergeant - 8th July 2024

An immersive circus show described as being “breathtakingly beautiful” is coming to Greater Manchester next week.

Set to take over a rarely-seen area of The Lowry building for what is expected to be an “unmissable event”, the all-female Chicago-based circus company, Aloft, will be bringing their critically-acclaimed Brave Space show to Salford for the first time ever.

Known for being “a celebration of female strength and power”, Brave Space is now touring across Europe after it received five-star reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year.

There’s only two UK tour dates in the calendar, and one of those is Salford.

Inspired by the idea of creating trusting communities in trying and dangerous times, Brave Space starts as a puddle of 250-yards of fabric on the floor, and then, with the help of the audience, grows into a massive blanket fort and a “world of hope” that includes everything from interdependent acts of aerial arts, and acrobatics, to juggling, balancing on eight-foot high poles, and more.

A ‘breathtakingly beautiful’ immersive circus is taking over a rarely-seen area of The Lowry theatre / Credit: The Lowry

Audiences will get to go behind the scenes into a rarely-seen area of theatre building as they experience an innovative circus “like never before”.

Described as being a show that’s “impossible” to perform without an audience, as the audience itself becomes an active part of the show, each act in Brave Space is designed to physically draw spectators into the experience of “putting themselves on the line for the safety and wellbeing of at-risk members of a community”.

Activities the audience is encouraged to get involved in include helping to raise the tent, holding ropes that keep trapeze artists aloft, and even sometimes standing so close to the performers that you can hear their hearts beating… apparently.

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“Brave Space was created as an antidote to the horrors of daily news cycle,” explained Circus Artist and Director, Shayna Swanson.

“It’s not a “safe space,” but, an immersive performance that requires the audience and artists to show up as their best selves, encouraging them to care of themselves and those around them. I wanted to create a show that felt like the opposite of The Handmaid’s Tale – something empowering, and I wanted to create the world I want to live in, even if it only exists for an hour at a time.”

Brave Space will run at The Lowry from Thursday 18 – Saturday 20 July, and you can find out more information and grab tickets here.

Featured Image – The Lowry