The hustle and bustle of the holidays can make the season feel like a three-ring circus, even for people who don’t identify with any particular religious tradition. San Francisco’s Bow & Arrow Circus Theatre Collective has actually designed a one-ring experience for pagans and anyone intrigued by the old gods.
With eight performances between Dec. 1 and 16 at the SF Mime Troupe Studio Theater, “Saturnalia: A Solstice Circus Spectacular” brings a dash of Roman naughtiness to the Mission. Featuring a cast of local performers, including company founders Bethlayne Hansen and sisters Genie and Marie Cartier, the production is the fourth iteration of a show that was born in 2017 as “Saturnalia! A Raunchy Circus Christmas.”
“I think what we do is unique,” said Marie Cartier, who’s written evolving versions of the show. “We’ve found our own way to combine circus and theater. There’s a little bit of sexiness, but nothing too risqué. It would be fine for a 12-year-old, but it’s definitely not designed for kids.”
In a tight production featuring six performers, Hansen and the Cartiers are joined by Landyn Endo, a dancer and aerialist, and Ivy Leon, a pole dancer, actor and comedian. Devin Walker, lead vocalist and composer for the rock band Northern Waste, plays his original music, accompanying himself on guitar.
“He’s just one of the variety acts,” Cartier said. “It all moves forward through dialogue. We also have puppetry this year that moves the story along. We have almost every type of variety act: Music, dance, aerial, object manipulation, drag, burlesque and puppetry.”
The Cartiers grew up in San Francisco studying at Circus Center, and while her sister pursued gymnastics and various circus arts, Marie ended up majoring in theater as a college student. The sisters and their Bow & Arrow comrades were initially inspired to put a performance together when a friend pulled off a successful circus-related production. They didn’t intend to launch a new company; “we just wanted to do a show, see how it went, and expand our skills as producers and performers and writers,” Cartier said.
Her sister had proposed doing a show based on the classic, campy holiday Christmas special model, “but I knew I wanted to write the script and Christmas is so overdone, and none of us are really Christians, anyway,” Marie said. Hitting the library to investigate interesting winter holidays, “I discovered the Roman holiday Saturnalia,” she said. “We knew we wanted it to be a sexy show and this Roman festival, which was very raunchy with switching roles and tricksters, was perfect.”
In the hands of Bow & Arrow Circus Theatre, “Saturnalia” is a celebration of pagan winter folklore in the form of a sitcom, “but with sexy circus acts and musical numbers that punctuate the story,” Cartier said. Running about 70 minutes with an intermission, “Saturnalia” ended up at the SF Mime Troupe space because Marie Cartier is a member of the collective who’s written several SFMT productions.
“The space is very intimate, and there’s only room for a small audience each night,” she said. “I think a lot of people in the wintertime need experiences that are joyful and warm. The show is really funny, but it’s really more about folklore and our connection with cycles of the Earth.”
The company is part of the region’s expansive circus arts scene that overlaps with burlesque practitioners, Burning Man devotees, and musicians like the Jazz Mafia players and Cellista.
“We love seeing other’s circus shows,” Cartier said. “We’re not going to be the most commercially successful, but it’s so creatively rewarding for people involved in our shows. We come up with silly new ideas, not relying on existing tropes. This is a very rich environment for circus arts.”
Other circus situations
Ash Rexford, a frequent collaborator with Bow & Arrow Circus Theatre Collective, is presenting her first independent production with her husband, Igor, introducing Circus Something with “The Longest Night” Dec. 22-23 at Circus Center. She describes the new troupe as an “avant-garde ritual circus theater production company dedicated to creating a welcoming space for dark and contemporary circus and theatrical performance.” The multi-sensory show, which features the sinuous Slither Sirens and a cast of veteran circus performers, seems designed for adult audiences.
If you’re looking for a more traditional circus experience, Circus Bella settles into Howard and Beale streets Dec. 15 to 31 at the Crossing at the East Cut. The new show, “Kaleidoscope,” takes place in the round under a 350-seat circus tent and features a diverse cast of 12 artists performing acts of balance, agility, flexibility and silliness. Founded and directed by aerialist Abigail Munn, Circus Bella features Toni Cannon’s Chinese pole act, Dwoira Galilea’s aerial hoop work, contortionist Elise Hing, Ori Quesada’s rola bola, and many others, all accompanied by accordionist Rob Reich’s great six-piece Circus Bella All-Star Band.
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