Press preview of the Recirquel Company’s production “Walk My World”
From November 5, the Recirquel Company will offer audiences a cinematic experience in Millenáris Park in Budapest. In the immersive theatrical production “Walk My World”, gods, heroes, and strange creatures await viewers in a mythical world reminiscent of movie sets, covering an area of 6,000 square meters. The mythological story is brought to life through the language of contemporary circus and dance.
Artistic director Bence Vági, writer-director-choreographer of the play, said at the press conference in Budapest on Tuesday that the production brings to life the story of Virgil’s epic poem, the tragic love story of Aeneas and Dido.
He said that after five years of preparation, construction and rehearsals began eight months ago, and the performance is the work of nearly 150 creative artists.
There are forty installation spaces in the hall, containing a wealth of carefully selected objects and tiny details that add to the characters’ lives and stories. The objects were selected from the period spanning the 1920s to the 1970s.
One of the installation spaces of “Walk My World”. Photo: Hungary Today
He emphasized that the 25 characters in the play are portrayed by 32 artists, dancers, and actors, who were selected from 900 applicants.
The artists, who come from four continents, are on stage throughout the 2-hour-and-30-minute show. The performance features 220 scenes and approximately 22 hours of choreography, he added.
As he said, the performance, which combines new circus with contemporary dance, takes the audience into a dream world, where, if they follow a character, they will reach places in space that they would not find on their own, and see the story from the character’s perspective. There are also scenes in this gigantic production that only one person will see. This way, every viewer can leave with a slightly different story, he added.
Bence Vági said that he encourages viewers to explore the space on their own, as the viewer is the director, and it is worthwhile for everyone to discover the performance for themselves, to get to know the multi-layered story according to their own interests. The experience of invisible observation is enhanced by the fact that viewers wear masks during the performance, allowing them to move more freely among the sets.
He emphasized that they have created an immersive theater production on a scale and with a concept that until now could only be seen in the world’s leading arts centers, such as London or New York.
Forty furnished rooms await discovery in the performance space, including a battlefield with a ceiling height of fifteen meters, a market square featuring twenty-five market carts and a booth converted from a military mobile home, a mystical labyrinth, shrines to gods and homes of mortals, as well as a military bunker, a surgeon’s room, a chemistry lab, a perfume cart, and a bar.
Part of the set of “Walk My World”. Photo: Hungary Today
Viewers are free to enter the spaces and even touch the personal belongings of the gods Cupid, Juno, and Mercury, which tell further stories.
As they write, the production also features a number of custom-made props and set elements, including a robot several meters tall that interacts with the performers, and a bed and table that rise from the ground.
The performance features more than twenty different circus genres, including several rare acts that require special technical skills. The production features a Russian swing that lifts the artists to a height of ten meters, bending, solo and duo trapeze, rope, Chinese pole, ladder and juggling acts, as well as numerous genres based on uniquely developed circus props.
“Walk My World” can be seen five times a week as a permanent performance at the Millenáris Grand Hall.
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Via MTI; Featured photo: MTI/Zoltán Kocsis
The post Must Watch: Recirquel’s Walk My World Brings to Budapest an Immersive Circus Experience appeared first on Hungary Today.
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