Aerialist extraordinaire Vicki Amedume tells us all about her involvement in our Circus Past, Present and Future season, as co-director of Astley’s Astounding Adventures…
From an early age, Vicki Amedume was aiming high – her childhood ambition was to become a Nobel Prize-winning scientist. But her life took a slightly different path taking her to even greater heights (literally), when, in her twenties, she ran away with the circus.
She’s tamed and cared for tigers, rode elephants and flown through the air on trapezes across the world. After mastering extraordinary aerial skills, she founded Upswing with the aim of expanding her career as an aerialist and choreographer while honing her directing skills. Working with the likes of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre of Scotland, she was also invited to create work for Melbourne’s Commonwealth Games.
Vicki first helped the New Vic take flight in Bryony Lavery’s The Wicked Lady in 2009 and New Vic Artistic Director Theresa Heskins’ Peter Pan in 20 I0. Since then, she hasn’t looked back.
Vicki returns to the theatre-in-the-round this summer to co-direct Frazer Flintham’s Astley ‘s Astounding Adventures alongside Theresa as part of the New Vic’s Circus Past, Present and Future programme marking 250 years since the father of modern circus and homegrown hero Philip Astley drew out the first circus ring.
Describing the production as one of the New Vic’s most ambitious shows to date, she says: “In the last 40 years circus has gone through a massive reinvention and has a fast growing community of artists, however, it’s still missing a public understanding of what a broad range of amazing styles, energies, skills and stories are being presented as circus. The New Vic has done a fantastic job of gathering some of the best circus talent and bringing it to Newcastle-under Lyme for this celebration year.
“I will be co-directing a new piece of theatre with Theresa which will be the most ambitious circus theatre production the New Vic has done to date. It is exciting and daunting but it will be a brilliant celebration of Philip Astley and circus showinghow world-changing arts have been borne out of Newcastle.”
For Vicki, circus’ recent explosion in the arts world is partly due to the accessibility of the artform in that it. transcends language through physicality.
“I think circus has permeated across our society, it’s present in visual arts, literature, music and in our common imagination but it has never really had a moment where we have celebrated it as an artform and recognised its contribution to society,” she says: “I don’t think anyone will ever get bored of seeing other human beings do incredible things but circus to me is not just spectacle.
“When we watch other people be extraordinary or take port in circus and discover our own hidden talents, it reminds us that we all have potential beyond what is on the surface. I think that is hugely important for our society right now. Circus is also an artform which uses the body in dynamic action so to speak, so it is able to be understood across cultures.”
Vicki concludes: “Finally, I just love circus because of its inherent playfulness, the powerful physical aspect of it which brings people together in a truly unique and all-encompassing way.”