Dorchester circus performers become Lords of the Rings

LEADING contemporary circus company NoFit State are in Dorchester’s Maumbury Rings for an extraordinary week of free festival workshops and performance.

“This could be the most spectacular show the Rings has seen since Roman times,” said Alastair Nisbet, chair of Dorchester Arts, one of the partner organisations behind the 2010 Inside Out Dorset Festival.

NoFit State circus company getting Maumbury Rings ready for workshops and their show Parklife.

NoFit State have been assembling a huge doughnut stage inside the ancient monument of Maumbury Rings for their show Parklife.

From Tuesday to Saturday, the company is running a series of circus workshops with local community groups and schools, before a finale performance of Parklife at 7.30pm on Sunday September 19, with pre-show performances from 6.30pm.

Mr Nisbet said: “Maumbury Rings is a perfect venue for this sort of huge outdoor spectacle. We’re thrilled to have NoFit State with us for the week and I hope as many people as possible will both get involved and come to the show.

“In other towns, people are having to pay £25 to take their family to see Parklife – but thanks to Inside Out, it’s free in Dorchester.”

As well as the finale show, people are invited to take part in taster sessions with the company on Tuesday 14 September and Wednesday 15 September from 4-5pm and to watch open rehearsals on Thursday and Friday from 3.30-4pm and Saturday from 2.30-3.30pm.

More details are at dorchesterfestival.co.uk and insideoutdorset.co.uk

Inside Out began at the weekend with a series of dance events in Bournemouth, and the European premiere of a new art installation - Congregation – in Bournemouth Square. On Thursday and Friday, the festival moves to caves on the cliff edge at Winspit near Swanage for performances by Kimmo Pohjonen and Paper Cinema, and Poole Quay on Saturday for an outdoor performance entitled Reve d’Herbert.