Ra-Ra Zoo

Ra-Ra Zoo was an English-based circus theatre company (1984–1994), started by Sue Broadway, Stephen Kent, David Spathaky and Sue Bradley while they were all working and staying together at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. They opened their first full show at the Battersea Arts Centre as part of the London International Mime Festival in January 1985. They toured internationally for ten years playing in theatres notable to Africa, South America, Australia and extensively in Europe. Their show under the joint Artistic Direction of David Spathaky and Sue Broadway combined the ethos of 'alternative' comedy of the 1980 with a 1970s revival of Circus skills, variously called 'New or Neo Circus' which largely promoted human skill without the use of animals. Their background in street performing (' The Amazing Mendezies') and the influential Circus Oz (of which Sue Broadway was a founding member) gave the show an irreverent, fast paced, surrealist feel. Productions

They produced several different shows and were occasionally supported in the UK by the Arts Council and other grants. Several large scale community shows and touring two shows at the same time in the early 1990s created jobs for more than twenty five people simultaneously at times. They adhered to a political commitment of a balance of men and women on stage and of equal pay for all company members throughout their existence. Shows include: My Life on a Plate of Toast — Several versions Domestic Bliss Stop Laughing This Is Serious Fabulous Beasts Gravity Swing Angels and Amazons Swan White Snake Cabinet of Curiosities Broadway Belles The Mast The Plymouth Theatre Royal Cleaners

Ra-Ra Zoo was influenced by the agitprop and political theatre of the late 1960s and early 70's and the ritual theatre and 'Happenings' associated with the time notably the 'Grand Magic Circus', 'Circus Oz','The People Show','Cunning Stunts','The Festival of Fools' in Amsterdam and the German choreographer Pina Bauch. Political influence came from the 1970s wave of the feminist movement and direct action politics like the protests at Greenham Common in the UK and the resurgence of 'theatre' as political activism. Ra-Ra Zoo influenced in turn many others as the company employed over a hundred people during its existence and played to many thousands of people world-wide. They spawned and encouraged, directly and indirectly, several off-shoots including The Circus Space, The Gandini Juggling Project, The Flying Gorillas, No Ordinary Angels, Le La Les, Broadway and Co., and Stretch People.

The company performed on television on programs for young people like 'No. 73', Blue Peter and on a broadcast pilot for C4 with Spike Milligan. In early days they played on the emerging 'New Variety' and alternative cabaret circuit and were the first company on stage at the newly reopened Hackney Empire in East London and subsequently played several successful seasons of their full length shows there. Their extensive touring overseas was partly funded by the British Council sometimes self produced. They represented the UK at World Expos in Canada in 1986 and Brisbane in 1988. Ra-Ra Zoo's last full show was at the Liverpool Everyman in 1994.