Custom Circus is a Portuguese transdisciplinary theater and visual arts company, officially created in 2002. Constituted as a non-profit cultural association, it operates in the areas of theater, audiovisual productions, cultural events, research and artistic training, areas in which it creates, carries out and produces cultural actions in the fields of arts, cinema, theatre, television and advertising.
Initially, its members traveled in a convoy composed of classic vehicles customized in a post-apocalyptic style, which grew progressively. Maintaining a nomadic genesis in the early years, they later settled in Oeiras, Portugal, and founded the cultural center Nirvana Studios. The activities of this company began in 1992, and with the exception of 1995, it carried out various projects every year until its official foundation in 2002 under the name Custom Circus.
According to João Mendes Rosa, then Head of the Culture and Arts Division of Oeiras Municipality in 2021, this company was one of the most active on spreading the name of Oeiras nationally and internationally, through the promotion of culture.
The company’s headquarters are located in Nirvana Studios, on Estrada Militar, close to the village of Barcarena, municipality of Oeiras. Between 2004 and 2019 alone, Custom Circus performed around 600 shows, having also hosted and supported, annually, dozens of transdisciplinary events, from art to sports, reaching up to this date 15 interactive theater productions, 10 record music albums, dozens of exhibitions and visual art installations, 10 literary publications and other projects.
History Custom Circus first appeared as a concept and also in the form of characters, in 1988 in a post-apocalyptic fiction novel by author Michel Alex. Four years later, in 1992, the group was formed and began its activities. During this time, two of the founders, Michel Alex and Rui Gago, spent 4 years (between 1988 and 1992) acquiring the company's first exotic vehicles: a 1969 Hanomag Motorhome, two Harley-Davidson motorcycles and a 1957 Oldsmobile hearse station wagon. In 1994, in Lisbon, which at the time was European Capital of Culture, Daniela Sousa joined the duo, professionally integrating the projects. In this Capital of Culture, they mainly worked for Eutaxia - a production company founded and managed by Adolfo Gutkin, contributing in the production of an Avant-garde theater show; this premiere would give rise to the MTM show by La Fura Dels Baus. The trio would be made official in 1996 and to this day they continue to work together. In addition to having performed in 1994 in Lisbon, they also performed in the Expo 98 and in the e no Euro 2004.
Originally the company traveled in a convoy composed of classic or post-apocalyptic vehicles that grew in numbers as the years passed. Their genesis was mostly nomadic before they founded the cultural center Nirvana Studios. This convoy was composed of people of various nationalities and trends, from Bikers, Punks, Goths, Hippies, among others, who supported themselves through tours and shows on the road. In 1996, a production company called Nirvana Produções was created, which dealt with the creation and performance of cultural and corporate events for other companies. Also in this same year, the group designed and held the Lisbon Grand Meeting, which was the first Portuguese event entirely dedicated to alternative culture.
The following year, the group launched the second edition of the Lisbon Grand Meeting, also working on the co-realization and production of the Lisbon Academic Week. In 1999 they held the exhibition "O 25 de Abril em BD" for the cultural company Antevisão, exhibited in the Museum of the Republic. In 2000, the international platform Nirvana Roadshows was created, which operated in the provision of customized vehicles for tours of other companies and corporates. In 2001, they participated in the inaugural event of the handover of the new high school in Dili by the culture department of the Lisbon City Council , also working on the design of the “New York" exhibition", a tribute to the victims of the September 11 attacks. In 2002, the Custom Circus brand was created and officialized as a trademark. One of the reasons for the formalization of the company was the fact that, when they worked for those who hired them, they lost the rights to the shows and contents they created; At a certain point, they made the decision to have their own company, thus keeping the rights and pursuing the presentation of their shows.
After this officialization of Custom Circus, the itinerant nature remained as the group continued to live and work in a nomadic way. Later, given the possibility of the group dispersing, thus ending the project, the members decided to progressively abandon the nomadic life, settling in Barcarena, Oeiras, creating in 2003 the first alternative cultural center in Portugal, the Nirvana Studios. This place was initially chosen to park their convoy’s rigs and store the massive gear used by the group in their various shows, but it was eventually chosen to found their base. This troupe, as an artistic association, is the founder and responsible for all the artistic and cultural programming of Nirvana Studios, where daily and permanent activities have been held over the years since its foundation. This cultural hub is open 24/7, every day of the year, operating as a platform for independent artists and a huge compound for the production of cultural avant-garde trends, as well as a haven for indie artists, including a vast array of performative arts, from concerts, theater or dance.On March 28, 2006 it was constituted as a non-profit cultural association. Although they started creating these headquarters in 2003, it was only in 2012 that the company left its routine of performing the apocalyptic on the road shows that had characterized them so much initially.
For more than 20 years, Custom Circus has contributed to the promotion of bands, theater, outdoor theater, scenography, literature, among other focuses. . On April 13, 2022, they were granted with the Municipal Cultural Interest Association’s seal, which was approved at an official assembly of the Municipality of Oeiras. In 2023 the Municipality of Oeiras launched a literary work covering the 20 years of the company, as well as its origins and a photo gallery of its shows. According to Adolfo Gutkin, teacher, playwright, and theatre director who wrote this book's preface, the company and its members are "unclassifiable".During its existence, the Custom Circus launched 15 interactive theatre productions, 10 record albums, dozens of exhibitions and visual art installations, 10 literary publications and several projects, like the first Portuguese alternative cultural center, as an example.
Performance characteristics
The company presents itself in a mixture of different aesthetic spectrums, exploring various Subcultures, subgenres and avant-garde movements, although they often work along the lines of the Post-Apocalyptic, Cabaret Rock, the Steampunk, Gothic or Dark wave. Due to its artistic transdisciplinary modus operandi, the company performs its shows on various types of venues and settings, which can be on a traditional stage, on top of a bus, a locomotive, or on the road. The Pyrotechnic art is also an almost constant in their shows, whether in outdoor sets or more regular stages, even inside industrial buildings; for this, Custom Circus teams with several professionals in this field, such as the Luso Pirotecnia Group, and especially Pirotecnia Oleirense, thus maintaining a professional relationship that dates back to 2006. In addition to gunpowder, they also use other fuels such as petrol, petroleum, Isopar, nitrocellulose, among others.
In terms of accessories, props and costumes, the company has been creating its own collections over time, so that they can better meet the narratives of the shows they perform. Due to some degree of environmental conscience, all the materials used, that wears out over time, is tendentially recycled and reused to create new props. At each show and performances, all the members have a great deal of freedom for stage improvisation.
Custom Circus' shows also seek to reach the digital world, enabling the company to articulate high-tech audiovisual equipment, not only to complement the dramaturgic arch but also to better brand the show itself. To do so, the company has been working with CISCO, an IT company, although it also has its own stage technicians who operate various devices such as robotic props, video mapping, among others.
Vehicles and platforms
Since its foundation, the Custom Circus company has performed using various vehicles such as motorcycles, cars or trucks, which not only serve as a means of transport for the company's members and their gear, but also as props, stages or structures for the shows they perform. The very way they started their artistic activity ended up to pave the name itself for the company, as they used modified and personalized vehicles (Custom) and created an arena shaped area for their performances (Circus) with said vehicles.
Over the years, their convoy grew up to 30 vehicles, consisting of 5 classic American rigs, 3 Airstream caravans, 3 buses, 2 army trucks, 2 fire trucks, 5 vintage camper vans, 4 pickup trucks, 1 backhoe, 1 dumper, 4 mad cars, and 4 custom motorcycles. When the company decided to create Nirvana Studios, most of the vehicles were sold in order to generate revenue for the creation of their alternative cultural center. Hence, at Nirvana Studios, in addition to the vehicles they already owned, the company acquired other strange vehicles over the years, such as two old Lisbon electric street cars, which works as a ticket office for the Custom Circus shows, the other one as a diner, and a 100-ton 1903 German locomotive, which previously belonged to Comboios de Portugal.
Visual Arts
Art for Peace Two days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the company decided to adapt the Custom Café Theater, one of the buildings of the Nirvana Studios cultural center, into a support base called Hangar SOS Ukraine, with the aim of helping to provide aid to refugees from the war. Before and after each show, the company started to draw attention to the cause. In this initiative, a TIR highway truck was chartered twice to Krakow, Poland, with its trailer artistically decorated with a Ukrainian flag motive. Both financially and logistically, the mission was supported by volunteers, from private individuals to companies.
Limbus Infinitus Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020–2021, the company was forced to cancel its season shows called "Diesel Punk". Since the props and stage mechanisms had already been created before the governmental cancellation, a parallel project was design and produced in the form of an exhibition. The concept revolved around a situation of limbo, referencing the waits and confinements of the pandemic era, also acting as a behind the camera into various components used by the company. For this project, all the props and mechanisms were created from more than 3,000 individual objects and artefacts dating back from the 30s, 40s and 50s
Absurdium The three successive years of the Absurdium show culminated in an exhibition bearing the same name. A gallery was created featuring a specific path that could be visited – though, in the core of the exhibition, a collection of recycled sofas were installed for visitors to sit and observe the pieces.
Time Capsule - Heirs of the Apokalypse