Spanish premiere Countries: Vietnam/Switzerland/France Approx duration: 1hr 5mins (no interval)
Lang Toi (My Village) goes beyond the normal conventions of the circus genre to present a story based on a day in the life of a traditional Vietnamese village. The performers employ a range of different disciplines - theatre, juggling, acrobatics, martial arts and music - to weave their tale using little more than bamboo poles as props. The cock crows, the locals get up to begin their day, children play with a skipping rope and men work the rice fields. Sheltering from the tropical sun, the peasants smoke their bamboo pipes, while later in the evening, a pair of lovers walk under a starlit sky as they prepare for their wedding.
To the sound of traditional instruments, the live music of Lang Toi (My Village) marks the beat of different circus techniques, taking the audience into a distinctly oriental environment which is at once exotic and yet surprisingly familiar.