Circus Absence is the story of a successful circus. The audience will get to meet the mischievous clowns, the Siamese twins, the mysterious magician, the bearded woman, the sly ringmaster and his assistant, the gorilla. In the shadow of the amazing artists is a cleaning boy with a big dream of joining the circus troupe. When it becomes apparent that the greedy ringmaster is a big swindler, it is the cleaning boy who takes charge. And showdown is going to be spectacular!

Recommended age: five years and up.

The production mainly follows the cleaning boy’s journey and dream of one day being able to stand on the stage himself. He is likeable and hard-working. The cleaning boy is given all the jobs no one else wants and does everything he can to satisfy his bosses, but no one ever really notices him. At the same time, we follow all the other circus artists and their daily lives with acrobatics and humour – but they are also under the control of the strict and avaricious ringmaster. We get a glimpse into the artists’ everyday lives, both on and off the stage. The ringmaster is stealing money from right under the noses of his artists, and they are becoming more and more exhausted. Will the cleaning boy and the artists be able to overthrow the evil ringmaster. This is a production about morals, abuse of power, emotions and talent, all conveyed through the humour, acrobatics and ingenious world of Jo Strømgren.

For many years, Absence Crew has been taking audiences large and small by storm with its energetic and entertaining break dance productions. “Circus Absence” is no different. The production is dance theatre with little dialogue, with the dance, acrobatics and physical expression speaking for themselves. They have joined forces here with the acclaimed choreographer Jo Strømgren.

Absence is a company from Bergen which works with dance and theatre. They have toured extensively all over the country, bringing joy to children and young people. Among the awards won by Absence are the DKS Gullsekken (Cultural Schoolbag Gold Bag) with their Askeladden på nye eventyr production, and the best production with Oldschool during the Fringe Theatre Festival in 2017. They have previously won the national breaking championship, both as a group and individuals. Absence has toured for the Riksteateret with the production Norr – when the gods did breaking – and have been hired by the National Theatre in Bergen on several occasions. Circus Absence, Oldschool, Norr and Askeladden på nye eventyr have all been performed previously at Dansens Hus (in 2019, 2017, 2015 and 2015 respectively)