Bence Vági's latest production, Walk My World, has become a must-see in Budapest since opening last year. Housed in a 6,000 square metre warehouse transformed into 40 performing spaces across multiple levels, it is Europe's largest immersive theatre experience. The show blends modern circus, dance, and cabaret, with audiences free to wander and stumble upon performances.
The narrative draws loosely from book four of Virgil's Aeneid, focusing on Dido and Aeneas, but expands to include gods, monsters, and soldiers from the epic. Twenty-six performers each have their own storyline, with scenes ranging from a few minutes to over half an hour. Acrobats, aerialists, and dancers perform simultaneously in spaces representing the fallen Troy, Carthage, a labyrinth, and the realm of the gods above.
Vági, founder and artistic director of Hungarian contemporary circus company Recirquel, calls his style 'cirque danse' – a fusion of acrobatics with contemporary and classical dance. His journey began as a child in Communist Hungary, later spending five years in West Germany after his family defected. He trained in dance at Liverpool's Institute for Performing Arts and was inspired by NoFit State Circus at the Edinburgh Festival, leading him to create a new form of circus that blurs boundaries between performer and audience.
