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Press, 9 August 1977, Page 23

The work of two terms by students of a drama course at Ham will come to fruition tonight when the students present the first night of their production — not just the first performance in a season, but the premiere performance of a new play by Nicholas Thompson. The play, “Circlus,” will run until Saturday in the Student Union ballroom at Ham, and later in the month will go to Wellington for performances at the annual Universities’ Arts Festival.

The title of the play suggests the linked notions of a circus and circularity. The setting is that of a circus, but one whose performers discuss philosophical questions at the drop of a clown. Ideas regarding where we are at, why we behave as we do, and darker impulses to action jostle with each other as the performers fall out, dispute, and act out conflicting points of view. The production is the culmination of student workshop activity. The

actors’ workshop, tutored by John Kim, ran through the first term, and a directors’ workshop was planned for the second term. When Nicholas Thompson offered his play for reading this was seen as an ideal vehicle to give the actors extended experience in an experimental production, the author a chance to have his work staged, and the directors the opportunity to come to terms with the problems of working up a play from an original script to performance.

After some initial rewriting the play was cast and put into rehearsal with four directors — Jenny Nathan, July Whisker, Stuart Wright and Rachel Fry — supervised by John Kim. The production is being conceived as a “studio” presentation; experimental in nature and adventurous in outlook. Shown above in a scene from “Circlus” are David Harding, as the Male, Kathleen Qwinlivan, as the Spirit, and Linda Rose, as the Female.