Contra is a collaboration between creative producer Nicole A’Court-Stuart and performance maker Laura Murphy. We make, tour and support the development of politically engaged, interdisciplinary and boundary pushing Circus work. Our practice is informed by our queer and neurodivergent leadership, as well as our shared passion for exploring the critical role virtuosic practices can have within live work.
The shows we create are bold, provocative and thoughtful. We hold connection at the heart of our relationship with audiences and experiment with playfulness, vulnerability, and emotional depth in order to forge meaningful links with the people who see our work. We are passionate about contributing to critical discourse around circus practice and in addition to our own creative output, produce public and industry presentations, speak about our research, teach creative workshops.
Our first production, Laura’s solo show Contra, was awarded laureateship by European circus label circusnext 2018-20 and has since been performed across 11 countries with subtitles in three languages, building enduring relationships between the company and the wider European circus sector. Our short research film, A Spectacle of Herself (2021), made in collaboration with film maker Holly Black and director Ursula Martinez, has been shown across multiple international platforms, including Cologne CircusDance Festival, The Lowry, Common(ing) Thread (NL/UK) & Vooruit (BE). Our live project of the same name is due to premier in 2023 and is a co-production with Carré Magique and Cambridge Junction and recipient of a Jerwood Circus Residency and the Summerhall Mary Dick Award 2023.
The shows we create are bold, provocative and thoughtful. We hold connection at the heart of our relationship with audiences and experiment with playfulness, vulnerability, and emotional depth in order to forge meaningful links with the people who see our work. We are passionate about contributing to critical discourse around circus practice and in addition to our own creative output, produce public and industry presentations, speak about our research, teach creative workshops.
Our first production, Laura’s solo show Contra, was awarded laureateship by European circus label circusnext 2018-20 and has since been performed across 11 countries with subtitles in three languages, building enduring relationships between the company and the wider European circus sector. Our short research film, A Spectacle of Herself (2021), made in collaboration with film maker Holly Black and director Ursula Martinez, has been shown across multiple international platforms, including Cologne CircusDance Festival, The Lowry, Common(ing) Thread (NL/UK) & Vooruit (BE). Our live project of the same name is due to premier in 2023 and is a co-production with Carré Magique and Cambridge Junction and recipient of a Jerwood Circus Residency and the Summerhall Mary Dick Award 2023.
Laura Murphy
Performer, Artistic Director
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Laura Murphy is a genre-defying queer performance maker from Bristol, who makes text-driven and dynamic physical performance about things that she thinks needs to be talked about. Challenging, intimate and spectacular, her work is a cross-disciplinary fusion of theatre, live art, aerial choreography, dance and verbal explosions.
Laura's methodology involves asking her circus technique to serve the work rather than lead it, helping her to push the boundaries of what is expected from aerial work and what aerial disciplines are able to communicate within a theatrical context. Recent collaborators include Terry O’Connor, Scottee & Friends and Peaches. |
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Laura is a graduate of the University of Brighton BA and MA Performance and Visual Arts course and holds a PhD from the University of Sheffield. You can read her thesis, Deconstructing the Spectacle: Aerial Performance as Critical Practice, here. Her debut show Contra, a fierce and poignant feminist solo directed by Ursula Martinez, was one of the first UK projects to be selected by the European circus platform circusnext.
Nicole A'Court-Stuart
Producer, Executive Director
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Nicole is a creative producer with a diverse background in circus, activism, academia, and visual arts. She produces thought-provoking and spectacular live performance that is both accessible and disruptive. Her Queer and neurodivergent position, coupled with her qualification as an RD1st coach, pushes her to prioritise complexity, care, and representation in her work. She is passionate about circus research and using her practice to challenge and expand what circus is and can be, and what it can offer to audiences.
Nicole is the current Artistic Director of Handstand Arts CIO and Circus City Festival, where she works to bring |
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innovative international circus programs to venues across Bristol and raise the profile of this City of Circus, on a national and international level.
Nicole has ten years experience as a creative producer in the circus sector including six years working internationally alongside Laura Murphy and five years with Handstand Arts as Circus City Festival Producer. Other key roles include Lead Producer with integrated performance company Extraordinary Bodies, Tour Producer with Jacksons Lane and freelance producer and creative and fundraising consultant on Olga Kaleta’s Period Drama and Chloe Mantripp’s Cockroach.
Nicole has ten years experience as a creative producer in the circus sector including six years working internationally alongside Laura Murphy and five years with Handstand Arts as Circus City Festival Producer. Other key roles include Lead Producer with integrated performance company Extraordinary Bodies, Tour Producer with Jacksons Lane and freelance producer and creative and fundraising consultant on Olga Kaleta’s Period Drama and Chloe Mantripp’s Cockroach.