| “Confidence, Assuredness, Disciplined Control, Refreshing and Beautiful” |
Wales at Edinburgh Fringe in the 2020s |
| Collaborator- Ockham's Razor , Pentland Theatre at Pleasance, Edinburgh , September 15, 2026 |
Alex Harvey was profiled in Arts Scene in Wales before taking his production to the Edinburgh Fringe.Alex Harvey: “We started a company and called it Ockham’s Razor after a philosophy by William of Ockham. He said that if you have two theories to explain a possible problem the simplest will most likely be one to trust. “The philosophy is called Ockham’s Razor because it’s about cutting away unnecessary details. We chose it as the name of the company as this simple approach really appealed to us. We use the movement of circus to tell the stories that are inherently in there and try not to put in extra and unnecessary tricks. “We have also always been drawn to a really simple design aesthetic with only a few things on stage used imaginatively. However, over the years the irony has not been lost on us that’s it’s a very complicated way of saying keep it simple. “This simple approach has really stayed with us. We said at the beginning that we want to make circus from the vulnerability, trust and reliance that exists between people doing such potentially risky work. It’s about human connection. “We’ve only performed it a few times so far and there’s been an incredible buzz about it so we’re really excited to be taking it to the Fringe. We’ve been up to the festival quite a few times and the thing we love is that you get to be part of a community of artists. “It’s always feels so great to be part of biggest gathering of performance in the world. “Charlotte & I met at Circomedia – a circus school in Bristol where we were both studying in our early twenties. We fell in love and vowed that we would never make work together! Circus couples around us always seemed to be arguing in training and then they would inevitably break up. “However, over time, we discovered that we were really inspired by all the same work. Once we started training together we found that we loved inventing new movement with doubles trapeze. We sort of casually, playfully made our first piece together and to our great surprise it won a French funding competition in Paris which gave us the opportunity to tour it and gave us some money to make more work. “...We weren’t sure where to start but our relationship and shared history seemed like a good place. We began by writing lists of all the dynamics between us including the things that drive us insane about each other and all the vulnerable dynamics that come up in creation : “am I the dead wood here?”, “if you loved me you’d love my idea” etc. “...The show came together in parts – like a collage. Stories, aerial duets, movement, kinetic sculptures all fit together. Each Friday we would invite in an audience and show what we had made and see what they saw within it. This was so helpful as we discovered that the meaning and tone of the piece from funny to moving would massively shift depending on quite small shifts in material placement. We wanted to make sure that the piece wasn’t just personal that it could resonate with the audience’s own experiences of navigating relationships, that it would feel recognisable. It also helped us make bold decisions. There’s no way we would have been brave enough to trust that this would make sense and read emotionally with out those helpful Fridays.” From: https://asiw.co.uk/news/welsh-artists-okhams-razor-at-the-edinburgh-fringe-with-two-shows * * * * The description read: “Ockham’s Razor return to the Fringe for the first time since 2019 with this intimate duet, crafted and performed by South Wales’ Alex Harvey and Charlotte Mooney. Featuring these two performers, a suspended metal frame and a stage, Collaborator is an irreverent, highly physical and heartfelt dive into the negotiations involved in making something: a decision, a work of art, a life. It celebrates creation, compromise and enduring partnership. Collaborator is the story of the balance, trust and frustration that shape any partnership.” https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/collaborator * * * * One 4 Review was there: “There’s something very personal and beautiful about this performance. You may read that the physicality is brilliant, the staging, costume changes, lighting, etc., but the reality is two human beings have spent the last 20 something years dedicated to one another, building a life, children, a home, work, love, hate, joy, pain and all the things that come when you decide to walk hand in hand with another person forever. It could be seen as a love letter to relationships or even the human condition. This show is not a simple circus or acrobatics piece; it’s a deliberate marking of time. “Alex and Charlotte met at circus school two decades ago, and although they promised each other never to work together, they quickly realised that wasn’t possible in the world of performance and physical theatre. “You’ve retired, right?” was the spark that lit the flame of this show. Collaborator is their intentional, intimate farewell to the stage. “There are no flashy pieces, only the use of physical language to show how people grow with one another. Do the falling pieces represent their children, their home, their work? When they become entangled, is this their personal wants and goals getting intertwined or their own personal frustrations with life, society or each other getting in the way? There’s something very beautiful about the small moments where they simply pause and watch on, almost helpless.” “...This is simply a masterclass in human connection that will resonate with anyone moving through the highs and lows of love, commitment and being a parent. Thank you Alex and Charlotte, for bringing something beautiful to the fringe. It’s heartbreaking at times but when you capture the fleeting moments of togetherness so well it’s a show I’ll truly think about for a long time. I, like many others, will miss seeing you on stage.” Abridged, with thanks and acknowledgement, from the full review which can be read at: https://one4review.co.uk/2026/08/collaborator-5/ * * * * Theatre in Edinburgh was there: “This was a performance piece somehow as gentle as it was bold, as tender as it was robust. There never was much, if any, doubt that as their bodies were intertwined to portray the highs and lows (and very lows) of a long-term relationship built on love and trust, that one would always be there for the other: there weren’t any, at least not for me, any heartstopping moments, and I didn’t detect any audible gasps. I’ve just made this show sound like a borefest – but really it was quite the opposite. In a world with so much strife, uncertainty and disharmony, to see something brimming with confidence, assuredness and disciplined control was refreshing and beautiful. “For over two decades, Ockham’s Razor’s artistic directors, Alex Harvey and Charlotte Mooney, have been making circus together: lifting, catching and carrying; stepping on and around each other. Featuring these two performers, a suspended metal frame and a stage, Collaborator is an irreverent, highly physical and heartfelt dive into the negotiations involved in making something: a decision, a work of art, a life. It celebrates creation, compromise and enduring partnership.” Abridged, with thanks and acknowledgement, from the full review which can be read at: https://theatreinedinburgh.co.uk/reviews/collaborator-pleasance-at-eicc/ * * * * The recs was there: “To describe Ockham’s Razor as a dance company which specialises in circus skills might give the impression that there are elaborate tricks in sequined costumes, and that couldn’t be further from the case. Instead, this company, led by artistic directors Charlotte Mooney and Alex Harvey, the depths of whose relationship enable them to create pieces so thought-provoking and of such beauty that one is quick to forget the immense physical skills on display. “Collaborator aims to describe the process of creating a piece of work from its inception. Performed solely by the artistic directors, both of them step out of the piece at the beginning to directly address the audience and, by doing so, immediately engage the room in the work.” Abridged, with thanks and acknowledgement, from the full review which can be read at: https://therecs.co.uk/collaborator/ * * * * The List was there: “As they reached their 40s, married couple Charlotte Mooney and Alex Harvey, who together lead circus company Ockham’s Razor, had been making work for over two decades. When they began segueing into directing rather than performing, a friend asked them if they had retired. They hadn’t, at least not officially. But this propelled them to consider creating a swansong show. Collaborator is the result. “The piece comes weighted with a level of poignancy, therefore, before it has even begun. Twenty years is a long time to trust, test and rely on another person’s body. As Mooney says in her introduction, they never intended to make work together; circus couples are notorious nightmares in the rehearsal room. But how lucky that they did, and Collaborator stands as an ode to the grit, teamwork, banality, intimacy and love that goes into mastering both relationships and creative disciplines. “There is a level of unfiltered candour from the outset. Mooney and Harvey welcome us into the theatre, stand around, chat, rig the stage themselves. They wear neutral-coloured casual clothes. In some circus shows this kind of thing can feel confected. Here it just feels honest. They have nothing to prove and everything to celebrate. But the candour also extends to the less glamorous parts of being a circus couple. In chapters titled ‘Most Days’, ‘The Dark Days’ or ‘The Days Where You Just Have To Keep Going’, they demonstrate in dance drills the drawn-out dedication of circus practise. Some of these sections feel slightly laborious but so is conquering a skill and navigating a marriage. “There are spectacular uses of swinging pendulums, illustrating different kinds of momentum and energy, and Holly Khan’s score is gorgeously textured, from Brazilian drumbeats to filmic swooning. But the real soul and fire of the show comes when Mooney and Harvey duet on doubles trapeze in a custom-built rig. From their cats-cradle legs to the way they nest and balance off each other, there is circus magic in this extraordinarily special bond.” Abridged, with thanks and acknowledgement, from the full review which can be read at: https://list.co.uk/news/collaborator-circus-review-spectacular-swan-48760 |
Reviewed by: Adam Somerset |
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