Casting Off

Dynamic and gutsy with an abundance of absurdity, Casting Off is circus-as-conversation that boldly challenges convention and topples expectation with raucous and poetic beauty.

Casting off stereotypes, three generations of spirited women talk, tumble, fly, and balance precariously. The personal is political, the furious is funny, and the acrobatics are downright dangerous.  Self-directed, hand-knitted, and honouring the life events that get in the way of work, Casting Off is an exuberant accumulation of moments that shine a light on women in playful, fruitful and radical relationship. Monologues, melodies, arguments and chit-chat infiltrate acrobatics with philosophical charm. Always intimate and a little bit improvised, the work is immediate, communal and authentic.

Winner:  Jacksons Lane & Total Theatre - Best Circus Edinburgh Fringe 2018

Winner: Melbourne Fringe Festival - Best Circus 2018

Winner: Adelaide Fringe Festival - Best Circus and Physical Theatre 2019.

Seating map in the files below.

Join us for more! Join local knitting expert and owner/operator of Purlin' J's Yarn Emporium Joan Sharpe on Tuesday, October 24th, as she hosts a special women’s intergenerational knitting circle for up to fourteen lucky pre-registered Casting Off ticketholders at her whimsical Kingston shop. Register here.

Join us for even more! Stay for a post-show talkback with members of A Good Catch Circus hosted by Jane Kirby.

Jane Kirby is an aerialist specializing in vertical apparatus. She recently returned from an eight month tour of the Southern U.S. and B.C. as an aerialist with the Caravan Stage Company’s original production Nomadic Tempest. She began her circus training and performance career with Halifax Circus, has performed frequently across Ontario and Nova Scotia, and has trained with several top coaches in Montreal, Toronto and Vermont. She now mostly creates her own work, often in collaboration with her partner under the name Lowlit Aerial Arts (lowlitaerialarts.ca). Recent works include In Defense of Libraries (Nocturne Halifax 2016), Beneath Our Feet (Kick & Push Theatre Festival 2016) and echolocation (Skeleton Park Arts Festival 2015, In the Soil Arts Festival 2015, Contemporary Circus Arts Festival of Toronto 2014). Jane has been teaching aerial arts since 2011, and has completed Introductory Aerials and Foundation Level Trapeze and Fabric teacher training courses through the New England Centre for Circus Arts. When not in the air Jane is also a non-fiction writer, and published her first book in 2017. She is thrilled to be back teaching and training with the Kingston Circus Arts community!

Jane was a 2023 Kingston Grand Theatre Local Artist-in-Residence.