Our
Story
Highwire Entertainment continues as one of Victoria’s largest independent production house of critically-acclaimed circus, cabaret and family-friendly entertainment.
Highwire creates bold touring works that fuse commercial viability, with excellence in circus arts and other multi-artform performances. We are known for delivering highly entertaining, polished work with a strong sense of humour. We boldly meld live music with circus and dance; physical theatre with science; performing arts with politics.
We like to say that our work is politics rolled in glitter. We are passionate about presenting shows that carry a message, and champion diverse representation and inclusivity on stage. We want to empower audiences to expand their views on circus as a medium, and to create opportunities for meaningful artistic expression for the artists we employ.
We deliberately create shows for a broad age ranges and demographics. We want Highwire to be a go-to production house where most presenters we will find something exciting and suitable for their audiences. We want to be consistently creating, so that we can have new offerings available to venues who have programmed us previously.
Highwire was founded in 2006 by Elena Kischbaum, and incorporated in 2018. We have worked across Australia and produced and toured shows around the world.
How it started...
Papillon
Wonderland Spiegeltent 2013
Featuring performers Elena Kirschbaum & Amy Nightingale-Olsen
How it's going...
Rouge
Sydney Spiegeltent, 2023
Featuring performers Paul Westbrook, Lyndon Johnson, Jessie McKibbin, Lizzie Patterson, Maui Ryan, & Christine Ibrahim.
Our Shows
Visit the following pages for our current programming.
Meet the Team
Artistic Director
Elena Kirschbaum (she/her)
Once known as the world’s only female chainsaw juggler, El’s successful career as a Producer-Director has positioned her as one of Australia’s most dynamic arts sector leaders. She has grown Highwire from a sole tradership into an independent company with expert ambition, management, and expert knowledge of both on- and behind-the-stage worlds.
Elena Kirschbaum is a creative producer and director, specializing in art, community events, circus, and multi-artform performing arts. El has been creating shows for over fifteen years through her company Highwire Entertainment, and is the director behind critically acclaimed hit like Rouge, The Defiant, Papillon, Bon Appetit, Dinosaur Time Machine, So You Think You Can Drag, and The Blue Marquessa. Elena is also co- Director of Gluttony, one of the major hubs at the Adelaide Fringe , and ‘festival within a festival’ that attracts over 500,000 patrons over the one month that it runs annually.
Arts Manager
Natalie Frijia (she/her)
Natalie is a highly knowledgeable and sector-engaged arts manager with a Doctorate in circus and theatre, bringing an immense passion for the sustainability and growth of the sector with expertise across administration, technical production and tour building.
Natalie has worked in circus professionally for 10+ years, in almost every role, with arts management being her focus. Her experience is predominately centred on festivals, events, and touring, where she worked extensively as a stage, production, and venue manager. Natalie has also written many successful grants, organised artist residencies, worked as a circus dramaturge, has coordinated and produced tours of circus, clown, physical theatre, and storytelling shows, for the past 10 years.
Outside of arts management, Natalie has been a playwright, a tour guide, a researcher, and, a long-distance cyclist.
Performers, Designers, Technicians
Our Creative Team
Highwire brings together some of Australia’s most exciting creatives, spanning skills in circus, cabaret, sideshow, opera, dance, theatre, puppetry, and education. We have acrobats and aerialists, world-class athletes, award-winning lighting designers, and storytellers of diverse media that will have you on the edge of your seat!