This article is part of the “Inter-magazine Circus Festival 2026” project that is a collaboration between the UP- Circus & Performing Arts Festival, the Université Libre de Bruxelles and six international circus magazines: Juggling Magazine, Stage Lync, Zirkólika, DYNAMO Magazine, Sztuka Cyrku, CIRQUEON, all part of the INCAm network. Students at Université Libre de Bruxelles share their thoughts on current stage and circus performances. Their diverse backgrounds ranging from literature and journalism, to acting and cultural studies bring unique perspectives, whether already familiar with the art form or newcomers. They are united by a curiosity about performing arts, which led them to the MA Arts du spectacle program, offering exposure to various art forms, including the circus. As part of the interdisciplinary and international project Circus | Studies led by Dr. Franziska Trapp, theatre students explore circus, collaborate with emerging artists, and engage in performance analysis and critique. Their experiences culminate in MA theses or articles like the one that follows.
A strange creature takes the audience on a journey through its deserted stone desert in Magda Clans circus production “2984”. In the process, not only are remnants of a long-lost era brought to light – but also proof that the intertwining of artistic genres can give rise to a multi-layered critique.
A stone tower in “2984” by Magda Clan. Photo @ Donato Aquaro
“2984” is one of 26 productions presented this year at the UP! Festival in Brussels. The show has travelled from Italy, where it was created in 2023 by the Turin-based company “Magda Clan”.
In the beginning, the stage at the Brussels Institute for Contemporary Circus lies in darkness. A spotlight rises, bathing a barren, desolate landscape in warm sunlight. Stones are scattered everywhere and a wheelbarrow stands in a corner. The light traces an arc, fades, and rises again, this time as moonlight. On this first day of all days, nothing can be heard but the muffled rumble of a scree avalanche in the distance. But as the light rises again, a creature awakens in a worn, dusty costume. A human with animalistic physicality and a language that only the stones can understand – sensitively and humorously embodied by Alessandro Maida. He seems to be the last living soul in this desolate territory. The only thing keeping him company is the watchful spotlight: mounted on a crane (operated by Flavio Cortese), it sweeps into every corner, peeks behind every stone and innocently observes the action unfolding on stage.
Alessandro Maida balancing on stones. Magda Clan, @ Donato Aquaro
The action takes place in the year 2984. The reference to George Orwell’s “1984” is no coincidence – are we dealing with a dystopian future? Only traces of today’s civilization remain, such as the bank card that the protagonist conjures up from his polyester pocket to scrape the sand from his teeth. This man has adapted perfectly to this post-apocalyptic world – he balances on piles of stones, juggles pebbles and performs acrobatic feats on his wheelbarrow – he manipulates the objects on stage so that they become his constant companions: resting places, toys, food, cleaning materials, dance partners. He exists in symbiosis with his environment. Yes, even the stones (which develop a certain life of their own as the show progresses) give something back to him. Little by little, they reveal strange objects, which the stone man examines in detail with an artist’s eye. Through those objects, he sees himself in an ever-widening context: his environment is no longer enough for him. He suddenly finds himself preoccupied with things that go beyond the simple instinct for self-preservation. An old laptop reveals to him a world that predates his own existence; the contents of an energy drink can show him the joy of a legendary high; and a silvery, reflective pyramid demonstrates to him pure, purposeless aesthetics – by now, at the very latest, the production evokes the legendary opening sequence of Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey’.
The narrative level opens a critical interpretation of modernity. Every object the Stone Man takes from his environment becomes a shrine. The rock from which he initially carved out his stone breakfast has now become an altar. There, on the largest rock in this landscape, every new discovery is placed and displayed. This altar is the protagonist’s fixed point. Each new discovery replaces the previous one and becomes the fetish object of an ideology of ‘higher – further – faster – more’. With each sequence, the Stone Man takes another step towards reason, towards perfection. The production thus creates the appearance of a linear development, with each sequence appearing as an intensification of the previous one. From its post-apocalyptic perspective, the production depicts progress as a crisis – one that ultimately leads to catastrophe. For in the end, the Stone Man pulls an object from the rock which, whilst offering him momentary comfort, also brings home to him the tragedy of his existence… Yet this contemporary circus show is more than a protagonist’s journey of self-discovery.
Alessandro Maida throwing a stone. Magda Clan, @ Donato Aquaro
Now, it might seem as though the production develops its critique of modernity from a pre-civilizational primal state – only in reverse, from a post-civilizational perspective. In other words: in the primordial soup, everyone was happy, and modern progress is the scourge of humanity. However, this production defies such simplicity. As is customary in contemporary circus, circus elements such as acrobatics and juggling (mostly) blend into the dramaturgy. Although the performer does not necessarily interact with the audience, he is constantly under the gaze of the spotlight – at one point even with the lighting technician operating the crane. These devices alienate the world of “2984” (they become Verfremdungseffekte), ensuring that the stage remains ever-present as the setting for the action and creating a further, self-referential layer of meaning: the tools and structure of the traditional circus are criticized as an expression of modernity. In the traditional circus, the human being – in the form of the circus performer – is presented as the crown of creation, the pinnacle of evolution; they can accomplish anything with ease and superhuman precision – the superhuman of modernity. The clowns present the opposite – alienated from the performer’s body through make-up and costume – thereby creating an in-between space where the audience can make themselves comfortable. But in “2984”, there is now only a clown left on stage, who, through relatively low-risk balancing acts and energy-drink-fuelled weightlifting, simply reminds us of the superlatives of the circus. In this production, the circus superhuman – like the promises of modernity – has died out in the course of history.
In the end, what remains is an almost conciliatory resignation in the face of the end of the world (while we listen to Skeeter Davies’ version of “The End of the World”). This raises the question: what remains of the stone man once he is no more? Just plastic to clean his teeth? Perhaps, but even so, he is still feverishly building elaborate stone towers, whilst the rumble of the scree avalanches draws nearer. Why? Isn’t it all lost? Well, in the face of the end, he probably still remembers what makes him human – in “2984” by Magda Clan, this is not least: art.
Felix Schwaiger
Credits “2984”:
Artists : Alessandro Maida, Flavio Cortese
Genre : Multifaceted Performance
Age : 8 years and up
Duration : 60 minutes
Conception, writing and interpretation : Alessandro Maida
Lighting design and interpretation : Flavio “Enzo” Cortese
External eye : Giorgio Bertolotti
Artistic consultancy : Roberto Magro
Direction and musical composition: Pino Basile
Set Design : Francesco Fassone and Jessica Koba
Costumes : Augusta Tibaldeschi
Anthropological consultancy : Giorgia Russo
Production : MagdaClan Circo
Show accompanied by
Solo But not Alone, winning project of Boarding Pass Plus Circo (Quattrox4, Milan-leader, Circo all’inCirca-Udine, Dinamico Festival-Reggio Emilia, MagdaClan-Piedmont, Berlin Circus Festival-Germany, Cirkorama-Croatia, Cirkusfera-Serbia, Cirqueon-Czech Republic, Erva Daninha-Portugal, INAC-Portugal)
Show hosted in residence at:
The Elba of the Nearby – Rio Marina (LI)
Dynamic Festival – MaMiMo Theater, Reggio Emilia
Asioli Theater – Correggio
Manicomics – Open Space Theater 360°
Surreal Residences – FLIC Circus School
Teatro della Tosse – Resist and Create 2023
Mon Circo – Municipality of Montiglio Monferrato (AT) and Municipality of Cunico (AT)
