History

The original Circus Monoxide was produced by CYCLE productions, the in-house production company of the Theatre/Media course at Charles Sturt University, Bathurst. The show was created by Precarious' - a physical theatre company formed by Linden Tierney with fellow students and graduates of the Theatre/Media course. It was performed in a big top as part of the 1995 Bathurst 1000 race week festivities hence the name.

On the strength of that performance, Precarious Inc. received funding from the Australia Council and the NSW Ministry for the Arts to adapt the show and the company for touring and performing in, around, and in front of a double-decker bus. The bus was given the name Harvey. Harvey, painted in yellow and black hazard stripes, with eight bunks upstairs and a kitchen, lounge room and company office downstairs, left Bathurst in December 1996 headed for Lithgow for the first of many seasons in regional communities.

From 1997 to 2001, the show was performed outdoors along pretty-well the entire Eastern Seaboard of Australia, from Kuranda in far north Queensland, to Apollo Bay on the southern coast of Victoria, out in Bourke and Lightning Ridge, and in the centre of major cities, with appearances in all sorts of festivals and other events.

Since November 2000, Circus Monoxide has been based in Wollongong, in an industrial depot generously provided by Wollongong City Council.

In 2002, sick of getting rained out, Circus Monoxide bought Circus Oz's old big top for a tour of regional Victoria and NSW.

In 2004, with significant support from Arts NSW and Wollongong City Council, Monoxide bought a brand new big top and created what became our strongest show to date, still with the bus as the backdrop but now with the whole side folding out to reveal the live band, and a ramp for spectacular entrances by the performers (check out the photos on the Gallery page).

This show toured over summer in 2005. Evolutionary versions of this show toured NSW in 2006 and 2007. Check out the Sydney Morning Herald review of the most recent season in Parramatta on the Media page.

Touring History


Since we hit the road in 1996, here's where we've been:

Orange, Lithgow, Bondi, Huskisson, Ulladulla, Redfern, Braidwood, the National Folk Festival in Canberra, Temora, Eden, Merimbula, Narooma, Batemans Bay, Kiama, Lismore, The National Circus Festival on Stradbroke Island, Hervey Bay, Magnetic Island, Ingham, Kuranda, Abergowrie, Bowen, Airlie Beach, Mackay, Gladstone, Rockhampton, the Woodford Folk Festival, the Adelaide Fringe Festival, Narrandera, Braidwood, Ulladulla, Lismore, Byron Bay, Nimbin, Uralla, Wagga Wagga, Moss Vale, Blacktown, Oberon, Gunnedah, Armidale, Murwillumbah, Dorrigo, Wauchope, Laurieton, Port Macquarie, Tamworth. Bathurst, Cowra, West Wyalong, Leeton, Narrandera, Echuca, Lilydale, Bairnsdale, Mallacoota, Albury, Byron Bay, Surfer's Paradise, Beenleigh. Maroochydore, Maleny, Gympie, Noosa, Redcliffe, Ipswich, Moree, Narrabri, St. Kilda, Torquay, Queenscliff, Apollo Bay, Willow Tree, Denman, Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Murrurundi, Lightning Ridge, Nyngan, Bourke, Gunnedah, Albury, the Melbourne Fringe Festival, Mollymook, Kiama, Wollongong, Blacktown City Festival, The Laugh of the World clowning festival in Joao Pessoa Brazil, Wollongong, Torquay, Ballarat, Echuca, Shepparton, Seymour, Goulburn, Mudgee, Wollongong, Bondi, The Adelaide Fringe Festival again, Port Stephens, Lake Macquarie, Newcastle, Merriwa, Gloucester, Wollongong again, Campbelltown, Gosford, Wyong, Manly, Shellharbour, Bathurst, Batemans Bay, Wollongong, Parramatta...

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