Wilds is a new work in three acts from proudly Tasmanian circus company ROOKE.

Created on stage made of three tonnes of enriched soil, Wilds is a meditation on life, soil, and care.

A Note From Freyja…

Making Wilds has been a epic labour of love. Almost ten years after we first conceptualised the idea - while living in the concrete jungle that is Berlin through Winter - it is quite surreal to finally premiere it. For me, circus has always had the power to do much more than entertain, and this work delves into some ideas and themes that sit close to my heart. At the core of it being the way we interact; with each other, with our broader communities, with other cultures, life-forms and of course, with the Earth itself.

The Australian contemporary circus community is my family, they raised me and have taught me more about life than I ever knew I needed. This work is heavily influenced by the work of so many circus artists who’s shoulders we stand on, and we hope it can inspire the next generation of Australian contemporary circus and the continued growth and evolution of the form.

To the dozens of people who have supported this work, or more directly our little family while we have made this work. thank you. As always, it takes a village. Our village has once again proven to be our life-force. We love you.

A Note From Conor…

Wilds has always been about connection: how we connect as humans; humanity’s connection to (and disconnection from) the earth; how circus connects and intersects with dance and theatre; and then how a project like this breeds connection and community.

A lifetime of touring and performing in clean, controlled spaces around the world always felt oddly disconnected from the nature and cultures of the places I’ve visited. Settling here in Tassie has deepened my connection to place and to nature, and it feels more important than ever to honour it, talk about it, learn to live in harmony with it. Wilds is nature reclaiming those controlled spaces.

Originally the name Wilds came from our last name, but the further we delved into this project the more apt it felt. We live in a wild time, full of new, unprecedented challenges. We stand on the brink of disaster. How do we navigate these modern wilds, without losing touch with the earth? With ourselves?

I’ve been obsessed with where circus and dance meet for the last fifteen years. Before circus, theatre and telling stories was my passion. Circus always felt like a challenging form to convey narrative through, but oh so powerful when it comes to eliciting emotion, and creating genuine visceral responses. Wilds is so exciting for me, it feels like we have found the place where all those forms meet, and we have a story to tell.

I want to express my deep gratitude to the incredible team that have brought this show to life, to everyone who has supported this process with space and funding, and our community who hold us every day.

  • Freyja Wild

    CREATOR & PERFORMER

    Freyja Wild is a life-long contemporary circus artist. She has toured the world with some of the biggest names in the business, subtly subverting gender roles and embodying feminine strength. You can still see echoes of her style and innovation in hula hooping and group acrobatics throughout the circus sector.

    Freyja is a founding member, and the Artistic Director and CEO of ROOKE, Tasmania's leading contemporary circus company. She cares deeply about community and creating meaningful, stable work for circus artists as they move away from full-time touring to settle down. In 2024, Freyja received the honour of a Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship in recognition of her contributions to the circus sector.

  • Conor Wild

    CREATOR & PERFORMER

    Conor is an acrobat, performer, maker and director. He has 14 years of professional performance experience and has lived and toured around the world with some of the biggest names in circus. A graduate of  the Circus Space, London (now the National Centre for Circus Arts), he has worked with Cirque Éloize, Cirque du Soleil, Circa, Circus Oz and The 7 Fingers, performing in numerous theatres and festivals in 29 countries across 6 continents. In 2021 he co-founded ROOKE, Tasmania’s leading contemporary circus company and is now both directing and performing for ROOKE. Conor has a keen interest in the intersection between circus, dance and theatre, and how the forms can blend and combine to bring us together and share the human experience.

  • Ryan Mahony

    PRODUCTION DESIGNER

    Ryan is an audio engineer, production manager and technical director from Brisbane, currently based in Hobart. He has worked extensively in Australia and around the globe presenting works to over a million people across 22 countries in musical theatre, circus, drama theatre, live music and major sporting events, with companies including Circa, Disney and Ed Sheeran.

    Ryan is currently the Product Manager of PV4 for RWS Global. PV4 is a next-generation content management, distribution and playback platform used for events such as Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

  • Jenni Large

    CHOREOGRAPHER

    Jenni is an independent dancer, teacher, and award-winning choreographer/director based in Lutruwita. Driven by the personal, political and transformative forces of embodiment, Jenni’s multi-limbed practice centers care and radical play. Her choreographic work seeks to subvert relational narratives, analyze socio-politics that impact women and playfully expose modern assumptions of stigmatized subjects. Heavily influenced by aesthetic and cinematic tropes, Jenni aims to balance experimentation, risk and entertainment value within her work.

    As a dancer she has collaborated and performed extensively throughout metropolitan, regional and remote Australia as well as Europe, UK, NZ, Americas, Japan and Singapore with artists and companies including; Dancenorth, Tasdance, Legs On The Wall, GUTS Dance, SA Opera/Leigh Warren and Ashleigh Musk. 

    She has presented her choreographic work both as an independent artist and through commissions Australia-wide at festivals and institutions including; Mona Foma, Ten Days On The Island, Ohm Festival Brisbane Powerhouse, Dancehouse, Carriage Works, Desert Festival, ADT:Raw, Sound + Fury,  Sydney Dance Company, WAAPA, Stompin, Australasian Dance Collective and Tasdance. In 2022 Jenni won the people’s choice award for her Keir Choreographic work and was honored to receive a Chloe Munro Fellowship. Recently, she participated in an Asia Link Singapore Arts Now exchange, performed in the UK and EU in THAW (Legs On The Wall) and premiered her newest independent work ‘Wet Hard Long’ at Dancehouse in Naarm/Melbourne which recently received a Green Room Nomination for outstanding visual design. 

  • Louis Frere-Harvey

    COMPOSER

    Louis combines his training in percussion, his passion for electronic dance music and his understanding of movement, to create energetically percussive compositions, uncovering the origins of rhythm within the body and its relationship to the music.

    Following a decade of touring Aus, NZ and North America as a DJ under internationally acclaimed Command Q, Louis began working as a freelance composer, collaborating across the mediums of dance and theatre.

    Louis has collaborated with multiple award winning companies, directors and independent Choreographers, such as Queensland Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Australasian Dance Collective, Scott Elstermann & Venice Biennale, Brooke Leeder & PERTH FESTIVAL, The Last Great Hunt, Izzac Carroll & Project Animo, STOMPIN & Ten Days on the Island, Sally Richardson & NICA, and Mitchell Harvey Company.

    Louis was the recipient of Minderoo Foundation’s inaugural Artist Fund 2021, as well as involvement in STRUT Dance’s SEED residency and SITU-8 programs, TasDance’s AIR with Robert Tinning, and was awarded a 2022 Performing Arts WA award for 'Best Composition 2022’.

  • Jared Dewey

    COSTUME DESIGNER

    Jarred Dewey is a widely respected circus artist known for his lithe virtuosity, sense of design, and capacity as a collaborator. He began his training in circus as a teenager at Cirkidz, a youth circus based in his home town of Adelaide. In 2007 he moved to Melbourne to study at the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA), graduating in 2010.

    He has since worked extensively with Brisbane based contemporary circus company CIRCA as a full-time ensemble acrobat for nine years. During his time with CIRCA he has devised, toured and performed in 13 different productions (including OPUS, Wunderkammer, PEEPSHOW, and more) in over 30 countries worldwide. He has also been featured in the 2016 London season of La Soirée in Leicester Square, has featured in numerous productions by YUMMY, co-devised and performed in his own multi-award winning show 'Party Ghost,’ and was an original cast member of the Circus Oz production ‘Model Citizens’ directed by Rob Tannion and ' NON STOP' directed by Nicci Wilks. He has also worked with the renowned Palazzo In Berlin and Vienna.

    Jarred recently graduated from Melbourne Polytechnic in Costume Design for Live Performance and has begun working as an independent costume maker and
    designer.

  • Justin Marshman

    PRODUCER

    Justin became the Executive Producer at ROOKE in 2025. He has previously worked as a producer, curator, programmer, tour manager, festival director, and arts manager across the world.

    Stage Manager: Caper and Crow, Sydney Opera House, La Boite Theatre Company, Polytoxic, Queensland Ballet, Flipside Circus, Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Out of The Box, Queensland Music Festival, Brisbane Festival, State Library of Queensland, The Brides of Frank and Kooemba Jdarra. Production Manager, Brisbane Powerhouse, Polytoxic, Strut & Fret Production House and Underbelly (UK).

    Producer: Restaged Histories Project, FRINGE WORLD Festival, Artrage (WA, Creative Producer), Wynnum Fringe Festival, RE//Perth, RASWA, Marcia Hines’ Still Shining, Brisbane Queer Film Festival (Co-Director).

“Isn't it time we stopped treating the ground beneath our feet like dirt?”

Matthew Evans, from his book SOIL

matthewevans

acknowledgements

Thank you to Marnie Karmelita, Sally Richardson, Ciaran McDonald, Christian Storan, and the team at Ten Days on the Island.

Thank you to Steve Mayhew and all at Theatre Royal for believing in the project when it was just a seed.

Thanks to Adam Wheeler, Emma Porteus, and Cat Kerr from Assembly 197 for your consistent support.

Thanks to the humans of Stompin, Mudlark, Performing Lines Tas, DRILL, Slipstream, Second Echo Ensemble, Studio Space Arts, Theatre North, Terrapin and the Tasmanian Performing Arts Community who hold our culture of collaboration and support so tenderly.

Wilds’ initial development was supported by the Theatre Royal’s 2022 RAWSpace program. Massive thanks to Belinda Kendall-White, the founding patron of RAWSpace.

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.

ROOKE is thankful to Arts Tasmania for their year-round support of our organisation.

Love your soil.

Thanks for coming. If you’d like to give us feedback, leave it here. We’d love to hear from you.

ROOKE’s Founders

Tony Rooke, Mieke Lizotte, Lewie West, Conor Wild, Freyja Wild, Ryan Mahony