‘Circus has always had a tinge of the creepy,’ says circus artist Jarred Dewey. ‘How the acts flirt with death, traveling misfits who band together to create a secret society, a world shrouded in mystery.’

His co-star, and onstage ‘twin’, Olivia Porter concurs. ‘There’s a macabre fascination in all things that scare us. Circus itself embodies that fear. It’s scary on so many levels; watching acrobats contort their bodies and throw themselves high in the air. Performing it and watching it creates an amazing adrenaline rush, as with horror.’

It was a fascination with the dark side of life (or afterlife) that led the pair to create their latest show, Party Ghost. Fresh from being crowned Best Circus And Physical Theatre Act at Adelaide Fringe, the show (which comprises aerial, juggling and slapstick) is described as part circus, part séance, with flavours of Tim Burton, and follows a set of ‘creepy twins’ banished to purgatory on their birthday. 

‘Personally, drawing from my own significant experiences with death, I wanted to investigate ghosts in a way that was light-hearted and comical,’ says Porter. ‘It was a way for me to look at my own process of grief through a different lens and perhaps ask audiences to do the same.’

The two are keen to point out that while Party Ghost flirts with the idea of a circus of horrors, there are no squeamish sideshow acts, bodyshock tricks or genuinely gruesome sights. ‘Party Ghost is very much not this way,’ says Dewey. ‘Instead we invite you to laugh at something most people fear: death. It’s more of a “what the . . . ?” laugh-out-loud show.’

In this respect, the rehearsal process has been a riot for the pair, along with acclaimed circus director Nicci Wilks. They played with ideas of death and birthday parties, and explored various horror archetypes, including the weeping widow and a ghost having an identity crisis. ‘Our process was two weeks in a room filled with bed sheets, tissues, fake limbs, birthday paraphernalia and post-it notes,’ says Porter. 

As for the séance side of the show, don’t expect a full banquet of Ouija boards and bell ringing, although there is a serious side to the tomfoolery. ‘We do invite you to “think” of your loved ones passed; however we don’t conjure them up with candles, lettered boards and chants,’ says Dewey. ‘Rather we take you on a ridiculous ghost ride to ponder, laugh or cry (with laughter) at how we look at death.’

Party Ghost, Assembly Checkpoint, 2–27 August, 2.55pm.