Ockham’s Razor, one of the best creative circus companies in the UK, are back at the Lowry with their new show Collaborator and Co Artistic Directors Alex Harvey and Charlotte Mooney are performing once more. Over the last few years, they have taken on a more directorial role within the company but here they once more work together to create and perform a show which takes an autobiographical look at their lives together.
Having met twenty-four years ago while training a Circomedia in Bristol, they fell in love but also realised that the vision for how they wanted to show their circus skills was shared by both of them. The company Ockham’s Razor came from that shared vision. Twenty years later, older and with a ten-year-old daughter, this retrospective of their relationship is possibly the last show they will perform before going back into their director roles.
Starting on Day One, a twin trapeze box becomes a basis for the interplay between them as they get to know each other. Humorous moments show a sharp observation in the development of the relationship. But the increasing closeness between them is profound. After this they move into short pieces based upon the last twenty-four years together. Pieces represent Most Days and Dark Days before progressing on to the present.
While the show is mostly based around their skills as trapeze artists, as with all their productions, there is so much more to the performance. Dance and mime both have significant roles and both Alex and Charlotte are as skilled in those as in the circus expertise. In Collaborator as well as the aerial work created by the pair of them, choreographer Nathan Johnson has given them additional levels of emotion through dance rather than circus. Everything is set to original music by composer Holly Khan, the music enhancing the visual.
Ockham’s Razor’s highly original combination of circus and visual theatre creates productions which while looking simple, amplify the emotion and become an evocative experience. Collaborator is one of the strongest they have done at giving that empathetic reaction. Dramatic yet intimate, by the end the feeling of knowing the people they are is intense. The ability to create and perform to that standard is outstanding. While this might be Alex and Charlotte’s last performance piece, one has to hope not as the world will be a poorer place without it.
Reviewer: Helen Jones
Reviewed: 5th February 2026
North West End UK Rating: