Theatre Orchard’s award-winning outdoor arts festival ‘Whirligig’ is back this September with its trademark line-up of extraordinary, eclectic acts and guaranteed crowd-pleasers. This year, look out for some extra special, monster-sized surprises coming to town as the Italian Gardens is transformed into a world of creativity and wonder!
The annual spectacle will begin on the evening of Fri 9 Sep with a taster event to get you in the festival mood. Followed by a jam-packed day of thrills and spills on Sat 10 Sep.
WELCOME TO WHIRLIGIG, where international and local performers come together to bring you jaw-dropping outdoor arts experiences in the heart of Weston-super-Mare.
Kicking off on Friday evening with a monster-sized treat in the shape of Saurus (not for the faint-hearted!), and a stompingly great Saturday of spectacles galore.
Friday 9 September – early evening
WHIRLIGIG LAUNCH EVENT: Close Act Theatre – Saurus
There is definitely something Jurassic in the air at the moment. Presumed to be extinct, the biggest beasts that ever walked the earth return to 21st Century Weston. Expect giant-size drama as these beasts walk the streets looking for food … but don’t worry they are vegetarians!
We’ll be meeting at the Tropicana for a community parade along the seafront with Saurus and heading to the Italian Gardens for a special Champagne Super Rolla and a Rickshaw Disco.
Saturday 10 September – 11am to 6pm
Alleyne Dance – BONDED
Bonded explores the construct of human dependency – especially that of siblings – and how time and external conditions can affect the synergetic connection. Performed by twin sisters, Kristina and Sadé Alleyne, the work takes the audience through a transitional journey of inter-and-independency through abstract dance narrative.
Bonded is supported by Without Walls and commissioned by Norfolk & Norwich Festival and Salisbury International Arts Festival, part of Wiltshire Creative
Avanti Display – SPURTING MAN
‘One of the classic street theatre shows of the last twenty years.’
A silent performance show featuring 200 litres of water in 3 minutes, performed to Ravel’s Bolero!
The show dissects the unequal relationship between the famous specialty performer, ‘The Spurting Man’, and his downtrodden assistant, leading to a series of hilarious comic interactions and displays of squirting water. Finally crowned and, on top of his pedestal, the grand finale takes place and ‘The Spurting Man’ cascades fountains of water from his body. Since this classic European street theatre show was first created in 1995, Avanti Display have presented ‘The Spurting Man’ on four continents and in nineteen different countries and can now add Weston to the list!
Close-Act – SAURUS
The dinosaurs are coming to town in a prehistoric spectacle guaranteed to make modern jaws drop! SAURUS is a unique, large-scale street theatre experience featuring giant beasts from prehistoric times. Presumed to be extinct, these majestic creatures are returning to 21st century Weston-super-Mare to wow Whirligig festival-goers. Crowds can expect to be taken back in time and enthralled by the spectacle and scale of these extraordinary, moving inventions, accompanied by their very own keeper and flaming flares.
Dizzy O’Dare – THE GIANT BALLOON SHOW
“Never laughed so much, my jaws are still aching!” Audience member
The Giant Balloon Show will have the audience in stitches and in awe simultaneously, with its hilarious one-man show pushing balloons to their extreme. Expect feverous balloon sculptures, high energy comic performance and, of course, the all-important giant balloon as the ever popular Dizzy O’Dare returns to Weston! Take everything you know about balloons, add an award-winning entertainer and an 80s soundtrack, and twist that into a highly entertaining show for the whole family.
Winner of The International Festival of Fools (2017)
Highly Sprung – URBAN ASTRONAUT
“Beautiful, moving piece by far my standout favourite of the whole festival!” Audience member
The future. Earth is uninhabitable, destroyed by environmental pollution. But could this devastation be prevented? Suspended on a gravity-defying flying machine, the Urban Astronaut travels through towns and cities to provide a glimpse of a not-so dystopian future. On his journey, he meets a girl who provides the one thing the Astronaut has lost…hope. Combining genre-defying aerial theatre with dynamic choreography and stunning design to tell a compelling story.
Now in its 8th year of touring, the renowned Highly Sprung’s Urban Astronaut exposes problems around air pollution, now at a crisis point. Once again bringing audiences a global issue and inspires them to make a change.
Matthew Harrison – THE ACTUAL REALITY ARCADE
“This is quite possibly the best thing I’ve ever done in my life!” London Games Festival
Welcome to The Actual Reality Arcade, a life-sized interactive game zone for all ages inspired by classic arcade games where YOU bring the games to life. Featuring hands-on, playable models of favourite retro games players can pilot spaceships, build giant Tetris walls, shoot alien invaders, Whac-a-Mole, become Pac-Man and much more as the Actual Reality Arcade brings its biggest ever range of games to the Italian Gardens.
Commissioned by Without Walls, Hat Fair, Norfolk & Norwich Festival, Out There International Festival of Circus and Street Arts and Stockton International Riverside Festival.
Motionhouse – CAPTIVE
Four dancers perform this exciting blend of dance, acrobatics and aerial work inside a large cage. Disorientated and shaken, the performers use their skill and instinct to survive in this emotionally charged and athletic piece. Inspired by Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem The Panther, this extraordinary outdoor show explores notions of captivity. Extremely physical, Captive is a thrilling blend of dance and acrobatics with a dynamic narrative exploring human relationships in captivity. The company returns to Weston by popular demand, following last year’s stunning performance of ‘Wild’, which captivated Whirligig audiences.
Captive is supported by Without Walls, Birmingham Hippodrome, Swindon Dance, Bristol City Council and Arts Council England.
Motionhouse is supported by Arts Council England
Spitz & Co – ELVIS IN BLUE HAWAII
“The funniest and silliest thing I’ve ever seen – pure joy.” Stagetalk Magazine
Award-winning Elvis impersonator Joe Reeve stars in his own version of the classic Elvis film “Blue Hawaii”. Assisted by over-enthusiastic Tour Manager Josephine Cunningham, this is a musical comedy which will leave you all shook up!
Highly visual with lots of audience interaction, plus all your favourite Elvis numbers, this a show which all the family can enjoy.
From Spitz & Co – the creators of “Gloriator”, “Gloria In the Mist’, and “Les Gloriables”. Devised and performed by Joe Reeve and Susie Donkin. Directed by Greg Banks and Angus Barr.
Working Boys Club – SERVING SOUND
Serving Sound is a multi-sensory sound installation that creates connection through music – a bar that serves bass rather than beer. The installation is an interactive work, playful and joyful, with each ‘customer’ experience at the bar lasting up to the length of a song. The Serving Sound Bar encourages conversations around wellbeing, in particular male mental health, giving working-class men a voice in a pub-style setting with a difference.
There’s nothing like your local, there’s nothing like it. There’s nothing like a pint at your local. There’s nothing like hanging out in the beer garden at your local. There’s nothing like it. There’s nothing like the footie, a fag and a pint at your local….The “I’m just going to have one”, the “just one more”. The ‘DING DING’ “LAST ORDERS?” See you next week I’m sure. There’s nothing like your local. There’s nothing like it.
COMMUNITY-CREATED ACTIVITIES BEING LAUNCHED AT WHIRLIGIG:
House Of Funny Noises and Into University! – WHERE DID THE BATS GO?
The House of Funny Noises, a Bristol-based film collective that makes short, experimental films, has been working with students from IntoUniversity to bring back animals from the verge of extinction through the surreal magic of puppetry. The resulting short animation film will have its first public screening, as part of a cycle-powered micro cinema installation at ‘Whirligig’.
Supported by Without Walls
WEATHERING TOGETHER
An immersive audio experience co-created with multi-generational community groups by acclaimed sound artist Joseff Harris, that gathers the eclectic voices of Weston-super-Mare and explores our ever-volatile weather cycles.
Being launched at Whirligig, it explores how the natural environment forms our identity and how human impact on the natural world is dramatically changing the landscapes we know and love. It will transport you through vivid memories and nostalgia, but it will also harness the voices of the future and highlight how change must happen now.
PLUS!
Circus skills workshops with Circomedia, The Cake Ladies deliciously decorative stilt walkers, Culture Weston bar serving up locally-sourced beverages, Bo Bom Gelato stand and more…
