Gravity and Other Myths’ LOUDER fuses of circus and classical music in a way that you’ve never seen before
In 2009 a group of young circus artists came together and Gravity & Other Myths (GOM) was born. From their early Adelaide Fringe days to international recognition, the troupe have continued to push creative and physical boundaries and create cutting edge works while expanding the company to what it is today. Their signature style circus performance remains a true celebration of performance art; from intimate shows to mind-bending large-scale spectacles.
Sydney is in for a treat with LOUDER playing at the Sydney Opera House from 25th – 28th June. The work brings two of the worlds most powerful artistic traditions together; classical music and circus to. In this genre-fusing performance, LOUDER examines what still speaks to us, what demands renewal and what we might be ready to let go.
Ahead of their opening night, Theatre Thoughts spoke with Jascha Boyce, proud GOM Co-founder, Director and Producer about premiering their latest work.
LOUDER explores the crossover between classical music and circus through collaboration with the Brandenburger Symphoniker. That collaboration came about through our connection with the Chamäleon Theater Berlin, who program long runs of contemporary circus works. LOUDER will see GOM performing to one of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto’s as well as newly composed contemporary classical works.
I was interested to hear what differences Boyce noticed between working with a well-known piece of baroque classical music, vs contemporary pieces. “Interestingly, the classical piece that we use isn’t used in a very traditional way. The whole concept of the show is looking at two very traditional art forms, circus and classical music, and investigating what tradition means and what traditions we should hold on to and what we can let go of and let evolve. So, in that way, using a classical piece of music that is quite known to a lot of people, we wanted to find a way to use that piece of music in a very different way. It’s dissected and pulled apart and challenged in different ways. I don’t want to give too much away. It definitely pushes the boundaries of what an orchestra normally does.
The two other sections of the work are composed by two different composers, Quincy Grant, who’s an Adelaide-based composer who has worked a little bit with circus works and composes quite beautiful, whimsical music. And then Sxip Shirey, who’s based in the US, and he has also composed for circus, but his music is quite contemporary.
The show is divided into three sections that explore those three different styles of music. And it has really influenced what our physicality is like in those three sections. Even the design and costuming, there’s a real evolution to the score and the physicality and the show itself.”
Discussing how the process differed from other multi-genre collaborations they’ve done, Boyce says “because we usually have live music in our shows, we often have the musicians in the room with us during the creative development and our physicality and the music do develop concurrently. But for this version, the composition came first. The composition happened quite separate to the physicality development. And then once we had the music, we could kind of form the physicality that we created around that music. It’s actually been really nice for us to have the score first and then be able to really align our physicality to that music. It’s a different way of working for us, but it’s been really rewarding.”
“The other element for us is the musical composition and the design. Instead of those elements just being something that is added after as an additional layer, they’re actually part of the creative process from pretty much the get-go. So we like the idea of giving the artists the design in their hands and they can help us to develop what that actually is going to be used for on stage and how it evolves.”
From their Adelaide roots to the international stage
Adelaide Fringe is where GOM first made a name for themselves and planted them firmly in the industry and they’ve since made a name for themselves around the world. From world fringe circuits to standalone performances in the Sydney Opera House, I was keen to hear about that development evolved.
“Over the years we did venture from the Adelaide Fringe circuit into the Adelaide Festival, and they commissioned a lot of our work. That elevated our profile as an organisation, both in Australia and globally. And that has allowed us to enter that more high profile touring market around the world. But it was also very important to us to maintain that connection to the more fringe-y circuit as well.
I have been around since the very beginning when we started in 2009 and for the first few years we actually only toured in Australia, so the fringe circuit was really important to us and we did a bit of regional touring, but we hadn’t really entered into the major festival circuit yet. Then in 2013, we met our agent, Wolfgang Hoffman, who’s based in Germany and that is part of the reason that we spent the past almost 12 years now touring mostly internationally, because our agents are based in Europe.
We do a lot of work in Europe and also a lot of work in North America, a little bit in South America and a little bit in Asia. But we really realise how valuable the Australian touring circuit is and how important it is for GOM to have a presence here in Australia and especially in South Australia, in our hometown. We do really try and make shows that hit both markets, which can be challenging at times but over the last couple of years we have re-entered into the fringe circuit especially Adelaide Fringe because it’s our hometown.
We’ve been figuring out how to make a show that works specifically for fringe and then shows that are more like special projects, so both styles of shows have become really important to our portfolio. Without the Adelaide Fringe, GOM wouldn’t exist. So, it feels really important to stay committed to presenting in those kinds of markets and also showing younger artists that they can do that. It’s harder now than when we started, for sure, but we do really like being role models in that area as well.”
Talking about the differences between creating a small scale and large scale works and the importance that both play in the company, Jasha says “in terms of preference, we actually really enjoy both and they each feel very important to our portfolio and our recognition worldwide. Our touring work, we like to call them our workhorses, tour really consistently that keep our artists engaged, they connect with huge numbers of audiences around the world. And then we have our unicorns or our special projects that really elevate the company’s profile and help us connect to a different kind of calibre of audience and presenter. So, both kinds are really important. They’re very different shows to perform in.
Industry differences between Australian and international stages
“The Australian industry is a complex one to navigate in that it’s just a small industry and so to set up a really consistent tour is much harder and tends to be more expensive and the style of touring that works in Australia is the slower style of touring. In between those presentations, you run workshops and connect with community.
It is just a different style of touring to, say, Europe, France is a great example, there’s just so many people who go and see shows, the audience development there is just more evolved. You really can drive an hour and present to a whole other audience the next day, and so you can tour much more consistently. That’s the biggest difference I guess, logistically, to touring in different places.
In terms of audience, we find Australian audiences, when they come to the show, they absolutely love the experience. Sometimes it’s just a bit hard to get people through the door. And I think even more so now, because of the economic climate, that’s kind of the same across the board in Europe and Australia and everywhere else in the world. But we definitely can feel it more in Australia.”
To put on LOUDER, the team raised funds through the Australian Cultural Fund as well as receiving support of New Work Now commissions at the Sydney Opera House where Jasha has seen the project go from funding applications through to opening night next week. “This one’s been a little bit challenging to find the financial support for, which is why we embarked on some public fundraising, which we’ve actually never done before. I think a lot of that stems from the fact that it is quite an exciting collaboration and having both the Brandenburger Symphoniker and the Sydney Metropolitan Orchestra‘s name on the work as partners really helped us to step into our fundraising.
Bringing the work to life
Reflecting on her favourite parts of bringing the work to life, Jasha says “we really love the challenge and also just the level of profile and recognition you do develop from working at that scale has become a little bit addictive for us. Working more in the classical music field it’s unusual I think for orchestras to be challenged in certain ways, we do involve them physically a little bit. And really, that’s how we work. We like to challenge the way circus is presented and what people expect. And we really enjoy doing that with our partners as well”
Discussing how the work presents these traditional artforms in a unique way, she reflects “I think another element of this show that has really inspired us is trying to break down the barriers to both circus and classical music, because often a younger audience does find it hard to access classical music. So, finding a way to both connect a more mature audience to contemporary servers and to our work and also a younger audience who may not have experienced classical music, finding ways to connect them with that art form as well. Forging that connection between new audiences that may not have seen our work or may not have seen the Sydney Metropolitan Orchestra before.
After seeing LOUDER, “We want people to leave the theatre thinking deeply but also feeling very uplifted and joyful after seeing our work.
Our work is very narrative driven, but we do play with some kind of deeper themes and ideas in all of our work. The underlying essence that we really hold on to is that joyful humour, the humanity. W
e are just people on stage doing things that we love with our friends and, regardless of the scale of the show, we really want to maintain that connection with each other on stage and with the audience that is genuine and lighthearted and feels truly Australian and joyful.
LOUDER will be playing at Sydney Opera House from 25 – 28 June 2026
