News Story
Worthing is renowned as a home for avant-garde circus acts in the South East. This November, we welcome contemporary performance maker and circus artist Laura Murphy to the Connaught. She’s bringing A Spectacle of Herself, a new piece fusing aerial rope, theatre and creative captioning. We caught up with Laura to find out more.
How are you feeling about your upcoming show in Worthing?
It is always such a pleasure to share our work with UK audiences. We tend to tour more internationally. This is our last gig in England this year, so we are really looking forward to it. Also, it is just lush to come to Worthing and be by the sea and in that beautiful theatre. The show is going to look epic in there!
What can audiences expect from A Spectacle of Herself, without giving too much away?
I enjoy making shows that collage together different styles of performance. So A Spectacle of Herself uses aerial rope, which is my main circus discipline, but there are also scenes that use lip sync, video, dance and autobiographical writing. The show is an exploration of what it means to feel seen. And to take up space as a queer and autistic person. You can expect to laugh, maybe feel moved. Maybe feel seen in some ways if the things I talk about resonate with you.
What inspired you to tell this story?
A Spectacle of Herself is a show about what it means to occupy space and the way in which different spaces transform how we are seen. As Kae Tempest recently described it, exceptional behaviour can make you a target, but in another pack, it can make you safe. My experience of theatre is a reflection of this. It’s a space where my differences and the behaviours and characteristics I mask in daily life are accepted and enjoyed. So for me, the often outsider identity of the circus performer extends beyond acrobatics. It goes into performances of human emotion, neurodivergence and gender queerness. Experiences and expressions that, in many spaces, still don’t feel acceptable.
As an artist/writer, I often explore personal autobiographical experiences in contrast to, and in relationship with, broader social narratives. Political events over the last three years have particularly led me to question myself, my identity and the place that I and others occupy in the world. With A Spectacle of Herself, I wanted to explore the link between mental health and personal identity in tandem with these bigger-scale political expressions of space-taking. This includes the “space race” led by billionaires to colonise Mars and the global climate disaster we are witnessing. Patriarchy and objectification are central themes in this work, given the way that space is often policed, organised and monopolised
Tell us about the acrobatic element of the show. How did you come to work in this art form, and how do you use it to convey your message?
I got into aerial circus when I was at university in Brighton. That’s acrobatics in the air, so on equipment like a rope, fabric, or trapeze. That was where both me and my collaborator Nicole started aerial mainly with Hazel Maddocks and her company called Zu I actually got into it through music. I traded something I had written for some free lessons from an aerialist friend Persephone Pearl. It started as a really separate practice to my performance making. But then I realised that it was the perfect form to explore some of the subjects I was interested in, like objectification and ways of looking at the body. In A Spectacle of Herself I use aerial in quite a literal way. It positions my body in space and plays with the fantasy of strength and effortlessness that it creates.
How do you prepare for performances?
I practice! A lot! Especially as there are a lot of different elements to keep on point. Obviously there is keeping fit, but things like lip syncing are also really physical. You have to keep it in your body. There is also a lot of text in the show! So a lot of lines to recite around the supermarket.
What advice do you have for someone who is interested in getting involved in acrobatics and performance?
Everything can be part of your practice. Don’t be afraid to combine things. Don’t worry about what you should or shouldn’t be doing or what things should look like. In the circus, particularly, it's easy to get caught up in what you’re meant to look like. And in my opinion, that’s not where the most exciting stuff is. Rest is really important and I find it’s about perspective. We can be under a lot of pressure to create and be in the studio. But reading, seeing your friends, going for walks and talking to strangers can also be part of the process.
What have you enjoyed most about creating this piece?
It’s been brilliant to work with a bigger team, to make a bigger show and explore video and creative captioning. It was also quite magical, as it was genuinely a surprise how it came out! We really let ourselves be led by research in the studio. For a long time, none of us could say quite what it was going to be. We were circling around identity, shame, not being enough and being too much, the way we mediate and measure ourselves out for others. And in the end what we ended up with was quite a pure celebration of just being yourself. Of sharing it all, and seeing what happens. It actually came out much less messy and more to the point than you would expect!
What have you found most challenging?
Autobiographical work is quite a vulnerable thing and I love being vulnerable on stage. There’s strength and power in that. But it’s also tough, you have to put a lot of care practices in place. A lot of the show is about being autistic. And there’s lots about theatre that really works well with my access needs. But there are times when it’s challenging to be in an unpredictable environment with lots of noise and bright lights. The upside is that the show has connected me with lots of brilliant autistic people who come to see my work, for whom it’s been really special and that’s just amazing.
Summarise the show in 3 words.
Playful. Visual. Euphoric.
What do you hope audiences will take away from this show
I find it hard to be prescriptive as we want people to have a personal response to the show. But one of the responses that has most resonated with me is when people say they come away understanding a bit more of what it means to create the space for others to be seen.
A Spectacle of Herself was on at the Connaught Theatre in November 2024.