NoFit State Circus is a contemporary circus company based in Cardiff, Wales.
| NoFit State Circus | |
|---|---|
| Origin | |
| Country | Wales |
| Year founded | 1986 |
| Information | |
| Ringmaster(s) | no |
| Director(s) | Firenza Guidi |
| Traveling show? | yes |
| Circus tent? | a large Spaceship |
| Winter quarters | Training in Cardiff |
| Type of acts | contemporary circus - anarchic fusion with theatre |
| Other information | no animals |
| Website | http://www.nofitstate.org/ |
Formed in 1986, NoFit State Circus have been a mainstay of new and contemporary circus in the United Kingdom since their inception, and have toured tented and theatrical shows at home and abroad. With the assistance of the British Council,[1] their first big production Immortal had 300 performances in 27 locations in 9 countries. They also maintain an active education programme and run community projects that allow non-professional performers to devise circus work, working alongside the company's own professionals. NoFit State have been involved with many British Juggling Conventions.
Their show Immortal was described by the Scotsman newspaper as circus that "celebrates the human soul rather than just the human body",[2] and elsewhere lauded as "rich, powerful stuff [...] overwhelming in its diversity of ideas".[3] Writing in The Times, dance critic Donald Hutera gave a more measured response, saying that it was better to "surrender to the show's deceptively shambolic quicksilver atmosphere"[4] than concentrate overmuch on the plot. Immortal won a Tap Water Award, an Editor's Choice Award from threeweeks.co.uk, and The Jury Award at Spain's Tarrega Festival.[5] NoFit State's next show, Tabú, premiered at Tredegar Park, Newport in April 2008, and has been touring Britain and Europe in the time since. Directed by Firenza Guidi, who also worked on Immortal, Tabú shares much of Immortal's visual and narrative style, and carries over some of the old cast. It has received mixed reviews. Lyn Gardner writing for The Guardian called it "fabulous stuff that owes more to contemporary dance and experimental theatre than it does to sawdust and elephants"[6], but others have criticised that the live show seems to have "no connection with the programme’s bogglingly detailed back story",[7] and that the circus skills on display "don’t dramatise the original concept".[8]
Since 2006 NoFit State have been running a permanent training space / school in Cardiff.