A CHARMING SHOW WITH A FASCINATING STORY

ROLL UP! ROLL UP!  SEE the amazing Baron Von Flutterby flying high in the air, WATCH the lovable Dungo, 5th generation circus dung beetle, and BEWARE the dangerously deadly wasp Jasper.

Welcome to the world of the Insect Circus...

This cute little family show, run by Mark Copeland and Sarah Munro, has been touring England and Ireland for the last few years. The company has had an unusual development and occupies an interesting place in today’s circus scene. The show’s concept is at once both joyously traditional and startlingly contemporary. For those of you who don’t know a great deal about circus, let me enlighten you on the ‘divide’ that permeates the current world of circus, and which the Insect Circus unselfconsciously brings together; that is between ‘traditional circus’ - probably the sort you went to as a child, family run, traveling big tops, animals (or used to be), lots of spangles, sawdust and fairy floss- , and ‘contemporary circus’ - frequently in theatres rather than big tops, often combines theatre and circus, or dance and circus, and include the well known example of Cirque Du Soleil. Whilst many circus performers may in their careers work for both types of companies the two worlds don’t often meet, tending to operate in different spheres and with different methodologies. That isn’t to imply that there is animosity between these two forms of the genre, after all the one grew out of the other, but one sees itself as an active player in the performing arts scene, and the other focuses on the demands of its audience and the needs of a family business. The Insect Circus in style recalls the grand days of animal circus’s and side show; celebrating the trainer/animal relationship and the talking up of spectacle. It also operates as a family; run by a couple and with family members involved, and outside performers taken under their wing, although the company is not constantly on tour. Yet there are no actual animals (shh don’t tell the kids), the company performs at festivals and events in the same arena as other contemporary style circus shows, and the show hangs on the dramatic theatricality of the insects and the trainers. This combination of traditional and contemporary elements is not new, and the harking back to the old style side-show within an exciting contemporary context is popular at the moment – take La Clique, currently playing in London - but the Insect Circus creates its own little world and is simple, appealing and family friendly in a manner that is unusual for contemporary circus at the moment. All this results in a show that is charmingly nostalgic, unusual, and relevant (playing on issue of animals in circuses, and recalling other contemporary people/animal acts such as in Circus Oz)
And yet none of this is a conscious effect: the entire project has grown naturally out of a series of paintings.
I interviewed Sarah about how the Insect Circus has developed:

What were you doing before the Insect Circus?

Sarah Munro - Mark was an artist, exhibiting with the Portal Gallery, London for over 25 years and also worked as a model-maker in films, advertising and television, winning a Bafta, with the visual effects team, for his work on BBC’s adaptation of Gormenghast.
I was the Arts Coordinator at a Pupil Referral Unit, teaching teenagers with emotional problems.

Why did you build the Insect Circus Museum and what was the inspiration?

SM - Mark had for some years been working on paintings playing with scale (eg; an enormous sewing machine in a landscape sewing up the fields like a patchwork quilt). With the idea of basing a series of paintings on the theme of performance, while looking for inspiration, he found a photograph of a circus parading through a town. He was struck by the similarity between elephants and snails so replaced the elephants in a low loader with snails. ‘The Circus comes to Town’ was the beginning of the Insect Circus. This led an exhibition of paintings of insects/molluscs etc in circus themed paintings.
A few sold at the exhibition, but feeling disillusioned with the fine art world and the small financial reward that is possible through the gallery system, Mark decided to make a traveling art gallery to tour the UK exhibiting his insect circus works far and wide. To provide entertainment he decided on making mechanical models of insect circus acts.
Thus, the Insect Circus Museum was born.

Had you been interested in circus before this project?

SM- Mark and I have always enjoyed the circus and have in the past made costumes and props for performers. Mark has also made posters and graphics for events and performers. I am now happy that she has finally run away with one.

What was involved with building the museum and how long did it take?

It took about 2 years to turn a Bedford TK 4 horse horsebox into the Insect Circus Museum. Mark worked tirelessly creating models, graphics and other exhibits to fill the space. I made the dolls and costumes (when she returned from work!)


The Insect Circus Museum is a beautiful and lovingly crafted work. Inside you feel you have entered into a fantastical world; truly bringing out the inner child, with all sorts of paraphernalia to create a side-show world that feels as if it should be a relic from a hundred years ago, and yet is entirely created. Posters, costumes, paintings and articles, not to mention scale models with moving parts create a fascinating, hands-on exhibit, and the references to pop culture and to actual historical events show a great sense of humour. The charm of the flea circus is taken here to a fully developed conclusion. Mark and Sarah first toured the Museum by itself, but now it tours with its own circus show with many of the acts created directly out of the paintings and posters in the museum. To circus performers discovering the museum for the first time what more logical outcome of such a project could there be? So how did this development come about?

Sarah explains…

(The Museum’s) first outing, in 2004, was to Glastonbury Festival where we met Perse and Emily (now current and past aerial performers in the show), who insisted on joining us, (although we didn’t know what they were joining, they were most insistent!)
We then went to Circus Ricardo for a couple of weeks where the museum was open to the public, and met Lyndall (current rigger, aerialist and insect trainer), Polly, Simon and Sophie (all past performers some of whom are still involved) who were performing with Ricardo’s. We had talks with the owners of Ricardo’s about doing an Insect Circus show with them but these came to nothing. However, L, P, S and S where enthusiastic about the idea of an Insect Circus and the next spring we had a meeting where Ash (current performer - Hattie Hatrick) joined us. The beginnings of the show were born in walkabout insect characters at an event in Kew Gardens in 2005.

How long has the show been going and how has it grown?

SM- The show was first performed in Hoxton Hall, London in March 2006, developing from the ideas in Mark’s paintings and has continued to grow with people and acts since then. Marisa joined us then, too, initially as performance director and subsequently as a performer, with her fabulous magic!

How did you find the transition from touring the museum to putting on a show and what aspects of this did you find most challenging and most rewarding?

SM- The Insect Circus has evolved gradually stage by stage and putting on a show seemed to be a natural development from the museum. Challenges often come on arriving at a gig, where we think everything has been arranged and agreed, only to find that the organizers have changed something without telling us. We then have to be very creative in our thinking to work out a new scenario as to how best to deal with the changes, and be very diplomatic! It has also been challenging to be on stage! Being with our crew is deeply rewarding. We seem to have created an Insect Circus family, which is growing with performers having babies and new performers joining us. We love them all. And we love smiling faces and making (our audience) laugh.

What kind of responses have you had from audiences in the past – any particular comments that you remember?

SM- Audiences, both young and old and all ages in between, on the whole really seem to really enjoy the Insect Circus, both Museum and Show.
Comments include:
For the show -
‘I've never seen a show like yours before, although I've always wanted to...'
'This is a circus I'd run away to join. OK, I'd run away to join any circus, but this one is the best ever. These people have style.'
For the Museum -
‘Absolutely gorgeous + witty + life enhancing.'
'Thank you for your imagination, flair and humour. Best thing of the whole weekend!'

And lots of other reviews and comments which can be seen on the reviews page of our website.

Of the places you have worked which ones have been particularly unusual, memorable, or challenging?

SM- Working in Kew gardens was very special. We have been there for 2 events and stayed for the weekend in our caravan. Being there at night, when everyone has left, is magical. Glastonbury Festival is always challenging in the mud and the ‘one way’ system in Dublin had us stumped. Hoxton Hall were we performed our first shows will always be memorable.
The Insect Circus has changed our lives. It has been the most exciting, rewarding and extraordinary experience. We have met the most amazing and interesting people along the way and had the pleasure and honour to share the stage with some incredible performers.
Long may it last………..

The Insect Circus is performing at Jackson’s Lane Theatre in Highgate this weekend 28th – 30th November. You can also take a look at the Insect Circus Website for more information: www.insectcircus.co.uk

Annabel Carberry – Circus performer and artist.