ClaireMcKenzie

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Set in the macabre of a Victorian sideshow, Freak Show follows the stories and secrets of histories most iconic freak performers. The audience explore the magic of the circus and the madness of the world behind it, seeing the beautiful, the barbaric and the downright bizarre. You will not want to look away... 

Freak Show was their first piece and was developed for the students of The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland as part of new writing festival On The Verge at The Arches, Glasgow. The show was met with high praise and went on to win the Scottish Daily Mail Edinburgh Fringe Drama Award 2013. Since it’s initial development Freak Show has played across the UK at venues such as The Roundhouse, London and Bosco Tent, Assembly, Edinburgh Fringe 2013.

The show explores the voyeuristic relationship between a performer and their audience. Based on iconic “freak” performers, Freak Show follows the travelling circus of The Announcer. The first half presents acts such as The Unbreakable Abomination; a man who feels no pain and uses the audience to test his strength, and Orion, The Man Who Can’t Forget; a man who can answer anything the audience choses to ask him. The show then flips as we travel backstage and see the darker side to these performers and their lives behind the curtain.

Using a classically-based score and unexpected narrative, Freak Show is an immersive and experiential piece that challenges our perception of what musical theatre can be and how it’s audience interact with it.