NICOLA K LAWTON
PRODUCER
Contemporary Circus and Theatre
So Far So Good
By SUPERFAN
So Far So Good is an adventurous new contemporary circus show for ages 3-6. Three performers use daring acrobatics to explore flying, falling, steep places, precipices and the sharp rocks you come across on the way up.
Created in the Cairngorms with the children who live in wild places, and drawing on their lived experience of false summits, dangerous scrambles, and hiking to the top, this is a show which celebrates the joy of dancing along the edge, scaling the heights and discovering the secret rest places and long views along the way.
A show for anyone who has ever asked “Are we there yet?” Because however high we get, are we ever really there?
So Far So Good has been commissioned by Imaginate, in partnership with Aberdeen Performing Arts. It premiered in May 2024 and appeared at he Edinburgh International Children’s Festival, and Light the Blue Festival in Aberdeen, as well as touring across Scotland including in the Highlands and community venues in Strathspey.
Photo Credits: Brian Hartley
Hold Fast
By SUPERFAN Performance
Touring Autumn 2023
A collaboration between circus maker Ellie Dubois and folk musician Sarah Hayes (of Scottish band Admiral Fallow). Combining Scottish folk music and contemporary circus to make a performance that will be created and performed in village halls. The all-female team (under-represented in both circus and folk music) combine contemporary circus movement with traditional Scottish folk music.
Hold Fast explores our relationship as women to the landscape around us, challenging traditional roles of women and charting the changing role in rural communities, and simultaneously challenging gender expectations in the fields of circus and folk music, in the process of creating new work made for a much-ignored and under-served audience.
More information coming soon
Photo Credit: Jassy Earl
Toured Autumn 2022
“A THOROUGHLY EXHILARATING 60 MINUTES THAT CERTAINLY PULLS NO PUNCHES” – ★★★★★ THE RECS
Stuntman is an explosive physical performance by two men exploring the relationships between violence and masculinity through stunts and satire. Taking inspiration from classic and contemporary action movies such as Die Hard and John Wick to create high-octane and sometimes ridiculous fight scenes, Stuntman examines the impact that having action-hero role models has on men and boys.
A striking, film set-inspired design by Rachel O’Neill, along with sound by Richy Carey and lights from Michaella Fee immerse the audience in the excitement of the heightened, cartoonish fights and draw us into the performer’s personal stories of their relationship with violence and aggression. Set in traverse, the audience are front and centre of the action, an intimate yet explosive performance from David Banks and Sadiq Ali juxtaposes the anger, rage and hype that men can feel on the brink of a fight with the calm softness and tenderness of not wishing to be violent.
Stuntman is for anyone who has ever enjoyed a violent action movie (but felt a bit weird about it). It is an intensely physical, funny, and tender duet by two men who wrestle with their relationship to violence – both onscreen and off. Fusing the Pow! Biff! and Wallop! of over-the-top stunt fights with personal stories of real encounters with violence from the performers’ lives.
Photo Credit:
Brian Hartley
This Graveyard of Dreams
Kalina Suter presented by Scissor Kick
This Graveyard of Dreams tells a story of self-preservation, of strength, of overcoming, of rising up from the ashes. Kalina Suter brings her exceptional skills as a dance trapeze artist in collaboration with raw and emotional tones from musician The Bones of J.R. Jones to create a powerful performance in this short film.
Running from something she is tied to, tangled in, stuck with, we see gradual untangling, a realisation of self, a building of strength which brings power and eventual freedom, no longer running, no longer stuck.
This film tells a personal story of breaking away from an emotionally abuse situation. The journey of untangling the web of doubts, fears and limiting beliefs that linger long after. This is a story of finding a depth and power within. A story of self-reclamation.
A moving performance captured by film maker Gabriel Stella brings a sense of hope as we see Kalina take charge of her destiny, rising to become her full and true self, powerful, strong.
You can watch this short film here: https://www.kalinasutercreative.com/
Image Credit: Lina Hayes
The Hair Project
Rachael Macintyre presented by Scissor Kick
Research & Development
An exploration of hair and our relationship with it, using apparatus which resembled strands of hair to create some interesting visuals with elements of aerial, acrobatics and storytelling.
We touched upon different stories about hair, that could form the basis of a new show for young audiences.
With support from Inc Arts.
Toured Spring 2022
“A quirky, throught-provoking two-hander" ★★★★ The Telegraph
Inspired by true accounts of research scientists working to communicate with animals, Like Animals weaves stories of human-animal communication around an exploration into the real-life relationship of performers Kim Donohoe and Pete Lannon.
Photo Credit: Mihaela Bodlovic
Developing Your Creative Practice
I'm currently supporting Hannah as producer on her recent award from Arts Council England to develop her creative practice as a contortionist. Helping her to build relationships with choreographers, directors and dramaturgs, expand her network and develop a new piece of work on a unique spinning contortion box.
Manipulate Festival 2020
Winner of the Autopsy Award & Part of the Made in Scotland Showcase presented by Scissor Kick at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2022
"Circus and myth collide in an evocative masterpiece of physical theatre"★★★★★ The List
‘Dreams of the Small Gods’ tells the story of the awakening of Wild Woman. Naked, unaware and unselfconscious, she explores her surroundings, still more animal than human. As she becomes more aware, her developing consciousness attracts the attention of a creature from the spirit world, a primal deity who sparks her curiosity and compels her to transform. First Woman changes her physicality, drawing power from the merging of animal, human and spirit self.
Inspired by the timeless wisdom of faerie-tales, classic mythology and ancient ritual, Dreams of the Small Gods blends aerial circus, masked ritual and performance art. It creates a world which is as hypnotic as it is surreal, questioning human ideas of holiness and profanity and exploring the ever-changing relationship between animals, humans and those we name as our gods.
Photo Credit: Paul Maguire
"This is circus under deconstruction- informative, entertaining and enormously likeable" ★★★★ The Times
"An all female company of circus artists play cleverly with the innovation of spectacle and its denial in the fascinating No Show" ★★★★ The Stage
"To see young women making the circus they want, on their own terms, is a wonderful thing" ★★★★ The List
"It is a generously funny, ultimately moving display of grit, determination and athletic prowess" ★★★★ The Herald
What do you expect when you go to the circus?
The greatest show on earth?
The glitzy smiles, the glitter of sequins, the drum rolls as performers who seem super human effortlessly perform death-defying acts?
No Show joyously and heartbreakingly reveals what lies hidden beneath the showmanship. There will be desperate attempts and heroic failures, glorious achievements and bruised bodies and egos as the performers push themselves to their physical and mental limit. See behind the flawless smiles and perfect execution of the traditional circus performance to show the wobbles, the pain, and the real cost of aiming for perfection.
A show for anyone who has tried, failed and failed better.
Photo Credit: Chris Reynolds
Winner of the Samuel Oxford Beckett Theatre Trust Award 2019
“Extraordinarily eloquent and startlingly intense” ★★★★ The Times
“Everything is vibrant and exciting about this show. It is a journey shared between the audience and the performers, a collaborative hope that everything will be ok in the end.” ★★★★★ A Younger Theatre
A child climbs onto an adult’s shoulders and they look out. They see hope but also destruction. One generation after another reaches higher, sees further, hurtling toward a future they can’t control.
Pushing themselves to the limit, dancing with abandon, colliding into each other, children and adults perform feats and leaps that grow ever bolder, ever more impressive, revealing an intricate and resilient bond. As their roles are subtly reordered, this intergenerational show becomes an unlikely metaphor for how we consider age, pitting our instinct to protect children against the wild abandon and joy of childhood.
Directed by Ellie Dubois and Pete Lannon, Nosedive uses contemporary theatre and circus to look at how cooperation, trust and security shift at varying stages of life, especially as we get older.
Presented in co production with the Barbican and in association with Platform.
Photo Credit: Brian Hartley
Chalk Lines
Research & Development
This was a week exploring a new circus theatre piece for children aged 5-8 on the subject of consent. The idea involved using circus performers to create a ‘highly physical and energetic performance piece that tackles head on the subject of consent and gender diversity, using acrobatics and physical movement, and working with tension and humour to explore this topic.’
This was a new collaboration between Ellie Dubois and Rachael Macintyre (Jabuti Theatre).
Some of the research carried out by Rachael in advance of this project had investigated different countries approach to sex education, starting as young as 4 in some countries, where they begin to talk about bodies and relationships to friends, parents and different types of families.
For this week of R&D Ellie and Rachael decided to focus on sensitivity, both physical and emotional, exploring pleasure and being able to articulate what we like when it comes to physical touch, and in regards to circus, the relationship our bodies have to what we do.
Photo Credit: Ruari Lambert
Fram & Dunt
"A circus performer faces obvious risks but family relationships can also be problematic. What this entertaining and amusing show successfully demonstrates is that given that life is short we should just try and understand each other’s worlds." ★★★★ North West End
"they deliver a gently-persuasive testament to the strength and balance that comes from the best of circus shows—and parent-child relationships" The British Theatre Guide
"Fram and Dunt reminds us that play and performance can provide freedom and opportunities that cannot be found anywhere else in life. On stage, you can be what you want to be and achieve what you want to achieve; if you can make an audience believe it, it’s real." The Circus Diaries
Dunt aka dad aka Joe Hyde, is a 60 year old man who until now has been working in IT as a security consultant.
1 year ago Fram aka daughter aka hair hang artist Francesca Hyde asked him to run away with her to the circus despite him having no previous circus experience.
Her secret mission, to get him to quit his job and bring him to the stage that he has always dreamed of.
To her surprise he said yes and Dunt left his job. But life as an artist is a lot less glamorous than that of an IT security consultant: the pay is low and inconsistent, the work has been harder and much more physical than he expected, the life is unstable & the tempting glow of the computer screen is hard to ignore.
Photo Credit: Nadia Lomana-Otshudi
Braw Circus Festival 2018
Scotland's First Circus Festival
"Braw Circus Festival proves Scotland has world class circus talent" The List
During my time at Aerial Edge I worked alongside Ellie Dubois to create Braw Circus Festival, showcasing the talents of Scottish contemporary circus makers and emerging circus talent. The festival held over a weekend at Platform, Glasgow, included full length shows such as Liquid Sky by MHz, curtain raisers and works in progress.
Photo / Poster Credit: Richard Walker / Gallusness