New show Circus 1903 is bringing elephants back to the circus, almost 25 years after animals were banned from doing just that in the ACT.
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Baby elephant Karanga and his Mum, 3.2 metre tall Queenie both star in the performance, but don't call the animal welfare groups - they're both works of puppetry genius created specially for the new show.
Circus 1903 is from producers Simon Painter and Tim Lawson, whose shows The Illusionists and Le Noir have previously run at Canberra Theatre.
The show looks back 120 years, to the 'golden age' of circus, and strips everything back, just focussing on the acts themselves.
"I think that Cirque du Soleil and all the other cirque shows we've done, all these narrative-based shows, were fantastic, but for me the bit I like always about the shows is just the crazy showmanship," said Painter.
"So that's what I wanted to feature and not go into the story, just show the showmanship, the toil, the challenge, the endeavour... And that time period was when that was most prevalent. I wanted to bring it right back to that."
And Painter said they couldn't accurately portray circus of that time without animals, albeit in puppet form.
"They were a huge part of that time - elephants were the big draw especially a baby elephant, so bringing those things back - you had to. We couldn't do the show without the elephants. And there was no one better to do them than Mervyn [Millar]," he said.
Puppetry director Millar is well versed in bringing animals to life on stage - he was part of the team behind the puppetry in War Horse.
To create the mother and her calf, Millar and his co-designer researched footage and images to pinpoint the intricate movements of elephants.
"You know that you're not gonna be able to replicate every joint in the body and not gonna be able to replicate every fold of skin and movement, so you're looking for the ones that really count, or that really feel distinctive either about that animal, or about particular personality in that animal," said Millar.
The mesmerising creatures - it's easy to forget they're not alive - star alongside some of the most talented circus performers from all over the world, who are skilled in everything from knife throwing to juggling, contortion and acrobatics.
And in a world first - they're bringing the high wire into a theatre, thanks to custom-built giant, complex rig mounted from the ceiling.
The Lopez family from Mexico, who are fourth-generation high-wire artists, walk, jump, ride bicycles and do all sorts of other unadvisable tricks across the tightrope.
After 10 days in Canberra, Circus 1903 will travel to Sydney then Melbourne, before a quick break in January to ship the show's huge amount of gear across the Pacific for a 20-week tour around the United States.
Circus 1903 is on at Canberra Theatre Centre December 1-10. Tickets at canberratheatrecentre.com.au.
