The Scrivener: Spangles And Sawdust - Part Nine
Brian Barratt, continuing his star-spangled series on his life-long enthusiasm for circuses, recalls some of the big-top acts he has seen in Australia.
“Oh, yes,’’ says Brian “I should mention that my childhood ambition was to be a circus clown. Funny walks, silly costumes, painted face, OK. But somersaults were beyond my ability, let along tightrope walking. So I became a publisher and then a writer. Same thing, perhaps?’’
For more entertaining words visit Brian's Web site, The Brian Rummager, www.alphalink.com.au/~umbidas/
SOME AUSTRALIAN CONNECTIONS
When you mention ‘circus’ in Australia, older folk nod and respond with, ‘Ah yes, Wirths’. In the early 1900s the Australian performer May Wirth did a bare-back riding act at Ringling Brothers, and was considered to be one of the greatest artistes in circus history.
The Grand Old Man of South African circus was Pagel. Born in Germany in 1878, he travelled New Zealand and Australia as a Strong Man and joined Fitzgeralds Circus in Sydney in 1902. After a short spell with them and then with Wirth Brothers, he went back to Germany in 1904. Later, he went to South Africa and set up the first tenting show in that country.
Australian connections must have been dear to his heart, as many of his acts were from this country. In the 1930s, Pagel featured: The Seven Martinellis (Risley artists, Australian despite their assumed circus name); The Warren Family (equestrian); Carlisle and Mundy (skaters); and The Locanas (actually the Balcombe family, trapeze artists and clowns, related by marriage to the Ashton family).
In 1971, soon after coming to live in Melbourne, I first saw the Moscow Circus, presented in the gigantic Bullen tent, complete with four king poles. At last, I thought, here was a Big Top of almost Ringling Brothers standard!
The acts ranked among the most thoroughly polished — ‘perfection’ was the keyword. The star of the show was the great clown Popov. Michael Edgley brought Moscow Circus acts to Melbourne again in 1974, and I couldn’t single out any one act as superb. They were all superb.
In 1985 Michael Edgley, this time with M.B.E. after his name, brought us the Great Moscow Circus on Ice. It was staged in the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre, which should have provided a sparkling, colourful background. It didn't — I recall two flags being almost the total decoration.
The act that impressed me most was troupe of superhumanly energetic gentlemen from Eastern Europe who rushed up and down two tall poles, performing impossible feats on the way. I think it was the Sarachev Troupe, or it may have been the Peradze Troupe.
In 1972, the German National Circus visited Melbourne, using a tent designed by Mervyn Ashton. It had four king poles and seated 4,000 people. I wandered around the tober, as I used to in years past, to peek inside the flaps, peer through the artistes' entrance and generally relive my younger days. Alas, most of the area was heavily fenced off, not simply to protect the animals but to keep out nuisances like me. The highlight of the show was The Human Fly, who walked upside down across the top of the tent, on the inside.
I saw the Festival International de Cirque de Monte Carlo Spectacular in 1981, and was suitably thrilled, particularly by Elvin Bale doing extraordinary things on a gigantic revolving contraption.
Since being retrenched in 1990, circuses haven’t been part of my diet. I haven’t seen Silver’s Grand Magic Circus which, from all accounts, is a very polished show. Nevertheless, my Roma (Gypsy) blood and the memories of childhood keep alive the twinkle of the spangles and the aroma of the sawdust.
Oh, yes, I should mention that my childhood ambition was to be a circus clown. Funny walks, silly costumes, painted face, OK. But somersaults were beyond my ability, let along tightrope walking. So I became a publisher and then a writer. Same thing, perhaps?
© Copyright 2005 Brian Barratt
