Cork woman hopes to bring colour to city with new festival

Known to many as Leeside’s street circus queen, Noelle O’Regan will add some colour to the streets of Cork next month for a festival with a twist.

UpDown Circus is the brainchild of Noelle and her husband Cormac Mohally, who was formerly one half of acro-comedy duo Lords Of Strut.

The inaugural contemporary celebration of circus and street art comes under the umbrella of the couple’s recently formed organisation Pitch’d Productions and will take place from Monday, September 1 to Sunday, September 7.

The event will see Cork city transformed into a playground for street performers. The programme also feature some indoor highlights including an industry panel discussion with Promenade, whose aim is to provide new arts experience in the areas of circus and street performance, among other artistic disciplines. This will take place in The Everyman Theatre on Saturday, September 6 at 11am.

‘Runners’ from the performance group Hippana Maleta are also included in the event line up. The show will centre around Alex Allison and Jonas Schiffauer, who are set to showcase their juggling skills on treadmills. Set against the acoustic backdrop of multi-instrumentalist Moisés Mas García, the event will be staged in Dance Firkin Crane in Shandon on Saturday September 6 at 8pm.

Rumours are also circulating about a fake snowball fight in Cork city, the details of which are yet to be released.

One of the most anticipated highlights is the street show Now And Then, which kicks off in Douglas Street on Sunday, September 7 at 1.30pm and 3.30pm.

Originally from Kinsale, festival co-founder Noelle O’Regan has taken on the role of hardy old woman Nancy, who strikes up an unlikely friendship with influencer/trapeze artist Pookie, played by Lidija Šola.

“This is intergenerational humour,” Noelle explains. “It’s a slapstick show that is very physical but also non-verbal which means it transcends all languages. The subject matter and the characters lend themselves to be shared across generations.

“One of the issues that came up a lot was mobile phones and how they are getting in the way of connections. It’s something we have talked about in our own friendship group. They often hinder us in just sitting down and having a chat. This is the case with Nancy and Pookie as Pookie is very much phone-obsessed. The phone can drag us into this other world, so much so that we forget that the world around us is happening.”

She said this message has resonated deeply with street audiences.

Street performing can come with its own unique challenges, as Noelle explains.

“There are definitely only certain personalities that can handle it,” Noelle told WoW! “I think that’s why a certain type of person goes and works on the street and other people stay indoors. Street performers come across people from all walks of life.

“You do sometimes encounter people who are under the influences of drugs or alcohol. In some cases they will interrupt the show in a very disruptive way. When this happens you have to know how to control the situation in a very kind and caring way.”

Noelle hopes the double act will appeal to a wide demographic. “Our way of gauging how well the show works was to see if it could hold the attention of a two-year-old. We wanted to see if the parents could enjoy it as much as the children.

“The feedback after we performed for our first invited audience was phenomenal. Some mums told me it was their first time sitting down with their children to watch a show together. We wanted to make it work for people of all ages.”

Noelle’s husband Cormac has enjoyed watching the character come to life in front of his eyes.

“Nancy is about 100 years old so, from the dressing room to the performance venue, Noelle is always in character,” he explained. “Every place she is going to, Noelle has to judge how long it would take Nancy to get there. Of course her pace is very slow and Nancy also likes to stop and interact with people along the way.”

Noelle admits she has enjoyed this part of the process almost as much as the performance itself.

“It might take me an hour and a half to get to the stage,” laughed Noelle. “People are helping and they are so empathetic. They strongly believe they are seeing an old person and they get very invested.

“It’s very beautiful how people help and take care of me... People are so invested in Nancy they forget that in reality I’m much younger than her. There are also the older people who absolutely adore Nancy. They’ll come and see the show over and over because they’re delighted to see a reflection of themselves in the act.”

Cormac and Noelle hope that UpDown Circus festival can introduce street circus to as many people as possible.

“The streets are where we meet,” Cormac said, “and I’m a huge fan of subversive and interruptive arts experiences. Our city centre is so focused around the shopping culture but where is the performance art?

“A lot of the time, street art is used as a means to regenerate certain areas. Many people are still opting not to engage with the arts.

“However, with street theatre we can put on a show right in front of them while adding colour and vibrancy to Cork city.”