Petit Circus: Bon Appetit

Set in a restaurant full of food and kitchen related circus skills, fun audience engagement, and more, this show is high energy, joyful circus! Bon Appetit showcases an impressive range of circus skills, underpinned by a simple narrative where the performers prepare food in a restaurant, which gives the show a familiar kitchen experience that can be relatable and engaging for all family members and audiences.

Bon Appetit follows the antics of seasoned restaurateur, Jane, eccentric master chef, Chef Anderson, and the server, Chris – who is endlessly working on his future musical masterpiece. Together they rush to make the most masterful of meals, for the entire audience, a table of 100, and even the Queen. The story is told through circus: washing dishes becomes a high-energy tissu routine, making desert a juggling act, crafting the entree a delicate balance of skill and precision, and the finale a dizzying plate-spinning act the has the audience on the edge of their seats, watching the whole feast come together.

Form and Style

Bon Appetit is a circus show, tailored for children and family audiences. Each act in the show revolves around a food or restaurant-related topic, which is then adapted and presented through a circus act. It is high energy, using aerials, acrobatics, juggling, hula hoops, clown, slack rope, and various other circus acts, all with a lighthearted, comic tone.

The show has a simple narrative, which is easy to follow, and it revolves around something we all love: food! We can be adaptive, responsive, and engaging to a wide variety of audiences, including multilingual and newcomer communities, and people who have never before seen circus.

There is socially-distanced audience engagement in the show, including asking children for suggestions on meals to make, responses to Chef Anderson’s creations and Chris’s musical experiments, and encouragement through the finale plate spinning act.

Community Engagement

The cast of Bon Appetit are professional circus artists hailing from across Australia, each with extensive training and performing backgrounds, all equipped to provide high caliber circus workshops for all age groups. Artists Jane Scofield and Chris Singer are graduates of Canberra’s acclaimed Warehouse Circus programs; and artist Matt Anderson received his Bachelor of Circus Arts from National Institute of Circus Arts. They all have national experience as circus arts coaches and teachers, focusing primarily on aerials, hula hoops, juggling, partner acrobatics, and a variety of other skills, which can be tailored towards the interests of community participants.

When past venues have requested community engagement, the performers have set up introductory circus workshops, focusing on skills which are easy to grasp in a short amount of time. For example, at Bunjl Place in Victoria, the performers split the young audience into three circus stations, focused on juggling, hula hoops, and beginner acrobatics. The youth then rotated among stations and were taught 1-2 basic tricks over the course of 45-60 minutes, which gave them a general overview as well as small successes they could continue developing when they went home.

Other venues have requested more socially-distanced community engagement opportunities lately, especially those wanting to avoid shared props with children. One of the opportunities developed as a result is a roving ice cream cart act, where the performers can walk among the venue grounds, and perform circus tricks – like juggling or acrobatics – while speaking to prospective audiences. This may be best suited for longer runs at festivals, where the performers visit during an opening night gala, or something to that effect.

Finally, the performers in Bon Appetit are adaptable and open to any community engagement ideas that the venue may have, including post-show Q&A’s or socially-distanced and COVID-safe photo ops with audiences.

Reviews

“What an absolute joy this performance was… no breaks or slow spots; three actors and performers who appeared at the top of their game, and simple circus theatrics throughout, done with flair and excitement.” – The Barefoot Review

“Of all of the kids’ circuses and shows that I have seen, this is probably the most seamless and professional. A quick look around at the audience confirmed my suspicions that the adults were enjoying the show just as much as the kids. In truth, I’d probably go and see this by myself, such is the level of acrobatic mastery and genuine entertainment. If you have kids, like kids or were once a kid, this show is a total must-see.” – Kryztoff

“It is really hard to find a family friendly show to suit the younger crew as well as the early teens, but Petit Circus have done just that, with their new show in 2021 ‘Bon Appetit’… this is a fast paced, acrobatic filled comic delight that had Mr 6 cracking himself up at the slapstick whilst the teens and parents loved the acrobatics and juggling. The crowd just ate this up (food pun totally intended) and the hour just flew by, so you know it is a good show.” – Kids in Adelaide

Available Marketing Collaterals

Bon Appetit is the latest iteration of Petit Circus, a family-friendly circus cabaret produced by Highwire Entertainment. The ‘Petit Circus’ Show has been touring with different stories and imaginative themes for the past thirteen years all across Australia, and has an extensive performance history and marketing collateral.

Bon Appetit in particular has been running for two years, and has the following available for marketing collateral:

• Professional posters and flyer artwork, including hero images;
• A professional video trailer;
• Photographs from a live performance;
• A collection of stellar 4- and 5-star reviews;
• A collection of awards and nominations, including Best of Children’s Weekly Awards at the Adelaide Fringe;
• An strong social media presence including reposts of audience reviews and photographs;
• And sample media releases.

Credits

The presenting company, Highwire Entertainment, is a proven Australia-wide circus powerhouse. With two producers from Perth, one from Melbourne, and one in Adelaide, the company has toured works all across the nation including sell-out seasons at Perth Fringe World of their adults-only circus, Rouge, and regional tours including Margaret River and Karratha.

The Bon Appetit circus artists are diverse, multi-skilled professionals.

Jane Schofield is a circus performer with an international career, and has performed with Long Answers to Simple Questions, Circus Oz, and Highwire Entertainment . She is as comfortable in the air as she is on the ground, and has performed hula hoops, juggling, tissue, roller skating, acrobatics and even acts which harken back to the days of vaudeville including spinning plates and walking globe.

Mathew Anderson is an accomplished musician and circus performer, with bachelor’s degrees in Music Performance and Circus Arts, and high levels of skill in acro, juggling, keyboard, slack rope, trombone, and meteor. He has worked with Papillon, Armistice, Le Petit Circus, Rebel, and The Itchy Feet Pep Band.

Chris Singer is an acrobat, juggler and multi-instrumentalist, who has been a circus performer for longer than he hasn’t. Armed with a wide array of skills and a deep understanding of music and stage craft, he creates captivating, highly-skilled acts with a sense of humour and cleverness.