Brand-new Fringe World show Campfire promises to bring the heat to this year’s festival, with audiences so close they can practically touch the performers. Created by Melbourne-based multidisciplinary performance company Split Focus, the one-hour production is set to debut in Perth after winning the 2024 WA Touring award at the Melbourne Fringe Festival.
Blending circus and physical theatre, it’s a horror-meets-comedy tale of two mates (played by Louis Green and Griffin Hooper) who are camping in the bush and find themselves stalked by a spirit. Tasmanian-born Hooper, a graduate of the National Institute of Circus Arts, says audiences can expect an “intimate physical experience.”
“If you sit in the front row, we will pretty much be performing circus in your lap,” Hooper says. “Acrobatics is thrilling at the best of times but when it’s literally happening right in front of your face, there is no other experience like it.” He adds that Campfire is ultimately about connection and bonds between men, and how they can be broken and rebuilt.
Hooper’s parents are both professional actors, with his father having performed with Circus Oz in the 1980s. Hooper says he grew up hearing stories about the circus and often had acrobats at the dinner table, making that world feel accessible. The entire Campfire team is thrilled to be making their Perth debut at Fringe hub The Pleasure Garden, specifically at The Gold Digger venue.
“We are thrilled to be performing in an iconic venue like The Gold Digger, which excels at creating an intimate performance space for the audience,” Hooper says. “A lot of our preparation has been in devising the show for that venue. The acrobatics tricks in our show are large and flashy, so we have been developing the work to bring the circus as close to the audience as possible, while keeping them and us absolutely safe.”
Campfire is at The Gold Digger at The Pleasure Garden from February 4-15. Fringe World, now in its 15th year, features over 3000 artists performing 600-odd shows at over 100 venues, with more than half of the program made up of new acts.
