The future came to London’s Hyde Park when Area 51 teamed up with Cirque Beserk to unleash Mechanika, a surreal cyborg spectacular that stunned A-list celebs like David “The Hoff” Hasselhoff and thousands of astonished members of the public.
Robot characters manned the leftfield circus for a seven-week run at the Winter Wonderland event staged in the central London location…and to a tumultuous reaction.
Starring the most dangerous and thrilling circus acts in the world, the show was an adrenaline shot of high-octane daredevil performance art and jaw-dropping drama. It beguiled, bedazzled and burned on to the retinas of those watching. This pageant of paroxysm left the audience on the edge of their seats.
With a robotic theme this year, Area 51’s expertise at costume design and circus creation came to the fore with a brilliantly imaginative blend of wardrobe, choreographed routines and a special soundtrack that was created by Daemonikon, the metal-prog band formed by comic illustrators Simon Bisley and Noel Guard. The show was conceived and directed by our very own Matt Page.
Among the performers were Germaine Debosq performing foot juggling on a motorbike as well as contortionist Odka whose excellent feats of archery where she draws and fires from a bow with her FEET without missing the target had everyone enraptured. Hercules, a cyborg strongman managed to hold five people on a telegraph pole across his back, and also juggled car tyres whereas acrobats the Zulu Warriors performed wonders.
The Globe of Death motorcycle stunt team Lucius added a new dimension to their act by splitting the globe in half with three bikers at the top half and one at the bottom, all riding around at speeds of more than 60mph in a death-defying feat of precision and skill. Other artists taking part included the BMX Bikernauts, Amy Nash, Lulia and Adie and Billy Herrin.
Photographs courtesy of Phlex Media www.facebook.com/phlexmedia and Piet-Hein Out www.circusphotographer.com
