Review: The Circle of Everything, Cockpit Theatre

Camden Fringe

A white square of canvas is laid on the floor next to a hanging hoop as a narrator strides in, confident and unapologetic. This production, he says, will allow us all to open our mind and broaden our curiosity. Enso, he explains, is one of the deepest symbols in Japanese Zen. Meaning circle, it reflects the duality of life: empty yet infinite. It is the cyclical nature of our own existence. We are told to recognise the artist in ourselves, and transcend the chaos, to open our senses and spirituality. And with that the performance begins.

A sunrise is then shown on a large screen at the back as the artist Kamilia CK slowly strides in. Moving in time to the sound playing alongside a multitude of visual images, she reacts in horror to familiar city scenes strewn with the devastation left by humankind by folding into herself. She then opens up in joy and celebration to plant life growing and thriving. Much of the imagery we see is spherical, reflecting the Enso circle: planet earth, or a brain for example. 

Picking up a large object, which turns out to be a paintbrush, the artist dips it into a pot of black paint before drawing it across the white paper in a circular motion in one fluid movement. The result is a surprisingly accomplished circle: the Enso circle. 

Clad only in black, she lies in the middle of the circle she has created becoming at one with her work. The aerial hoop swings back and forth over her. Much of the sound is rhythmic with a steady beat before she stands to rinse her paint brush in a large vase of water, turning it black. Although colour makes an appearance several times, much of this is in black and white: symbolically monochrome, it focuses the audience’s attention on the performance itself, highlighted by the carefully placed stage lights.

Kamila CK then lifts herself up to the aerial hoop, and immediately the delivery moves up a notch.  A flawless, accomplished routine, full of seemingly endless rotations, with the artist upside down, the audience leans forward in awe at her gymnastic prowess. The music and the visuals persist, but really we are only focused on the artist herself, as she continues to create more Enso circles on the previously black and white image on the floor. This time they are in colour, added using small ink bottles attached to the performer’s wrists and applied from above using the motion of the hoop. Both the execution and the result are really quite mesmerising. 

The strength of a piece of work like this lies in the quiet void a non-verbal performance creates. As an audience we are lost in our own thoughts as the film, sound and movement create unique connections and associations in our brains.  Sat next to a neighbour, seeing the same things, we nonetheless experience this entirely differently. We are connected, but separate. The images that Kamila CK has chosen necessarily connect us to the wider world, but our place in it will be different every time. This is the first time I have come across the concept of Enso but I do feel that this show envelopes the spectator in the practice and is both thought provoking and enriching as a result. 

Produced and presented by Kamila CK Artist

The Circle of Everything has completed its run at Camden Fringe.

You can read more about this show in our recent interview here.

You can find out more about Kamilia CK on their website here.