History lovers can expect ghostly characters and lost spirits to interrupt their exploration of the street and invite them into the past; historical figures leaping out of dusty books and into the spotlight; street corners transformed into stages for tragedy, triumph, and everything in between.
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00:00The Invisible Circus are a production company, a circus company to begin with.
00:06We are known for our site-specific performances.
00:10So often we're creating immersive shows that are responding to current happenings in society.
00:17Various tales we've discovered and it's all very situational and responds to whatever is around us,
00:27which is why working on the Christmas Steps is such a special opportunity.
00:32And what can people expect then?
00:34So, you can expect, if you're coming along to Hidden Stories of Christmas Steps,
00:41you can expect being thrown into a living past, I guess.
00:48You'll be thrown into an immersive location where as you walk through the Christmas Steps in your own time,
00:55various happenings will crop up and it will be characters from the past, from true stories we've discovered,
01:02retelling things they have witnessed or been part of on the steps.
01:09So it will be a mix of people telling stories and a mix of those stories kind of unravelling in front of you.
01:17And the stories are kind of happening all along the route of the steps.
01:24You know what, we're in a very weird time in the world.
01:26We're coming out of COVID, but obviously COVID was a time where the arts massively suffered.
01:32So why do you think doing site-specific theatre like this is really going to benefit the arts
01:37and also Bristolians walking around who might run into it?
01:41Yeah, well, for a start, the event is free for everyone,
01:45which I think is really important at the moment post-COVID, but just generally.
01:50It makes you really appreciate what's on your doorstep, so hopefully encourages people to come out again.
01:55The independent businesses around having people rediscover their physical presence on the steps is really important.
02:04But also there's something about just coming across art, coming across performance that brings people together instantly.
02:13It's a really accessible way of talking about really hard things
02:19while this event isn't necessarily talking about current problems.
02:24I think it still does tackle some really incredible and difficult aspects of Bristol's past,
02:30like slavery and various challenges in the LGBTQI community.
02:39Equally brilliant, hilarious stories about drunk and disorderly happenings, but maybe that's still a current happening.
02:47So I think it's just a really special way to bring people together, no matter what background you're from,
02:52your knowledge of Bristol or anything, it's a really uniting way to just come and appreciate what we have here.