Whats it like to run away with the circus?
Cardiff, Wales, 1983. A bunch of university dropouts and unemployed hippies find themselves united by two things: a talent for juggling and a desire to live a different kind of life. They decide it might be fun to juggle their way out of the rat race by founding a circus, which they call NoFit State.
How does this group grow from its lowly origins as buskers on the city streets to become one of the most admired and respected contemporary circuses in the world?
Stephen Glascoe, a member of NoFit States amateur community group Splott State Circus, takes us behind the scenes of the drama, stress and joy of a radical modern circus.
Based on in-depth interviews with the founders of the circus and many others who have been part of its history, Circus Rebels charts the challenges and triumphs of underdogs turned Welsh creative powerhouse.
Foreword by Jane Davidson
Authors Note
Prologue: The Battle of the Beanfield
PART ONE: Little NoFit State
1: A Brief History of Juggling
2: Origins
3: A Right Balls Up
4: Balls Up Jugglers is Dead! Long Live NoFit State Circus!
5: Under the Umbrella
6: Theatre of the Abzurd
7: The Blue Tent
8: On the Road
9: Running Away with the Circus: Hired and (not) fired
10: Running Away with the Circus: Reality Bites
11: My Time to Shine!
12: Forward to the Past
PART TWO: Big NoFit State
13: The Directors Cut: Firenza Guidi
14: The Breakthrough: Autogeddon
15: The Directors Cut: Orit Azaz
16: Prophecy
17: Now.Here
18: Im.Mortal
PART THREE: Beyond Im.Mortal
19: The Two-Pronged Attack
20: Last Man Standing: Tom Rack
21: Alison Woods: Number crunching is my game. Top-Flight Circus is my
aim.
22: Bianco, Block and Beyond
Epilogue: A Day at The Archives
Afterword
Stephen Glascoe worked as a GP in a busy urban practice in Cardiff for nearly forty years. He retired some years ago, and now spends most of time reading, juggling and playing pickleball.
He first met NoFit State in 1984 at the Glastonbury festival, where they taught him to juggle, and performed in several NoFit State productions in the 1990s. He is author of Operation Violet Oak: A Story of False Accusation (Seren, 2022) and holds an MA in Creative Writing from Cardiff University, 2017.
