³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

This weekend the Riverfront Arts Centre in Newport is hosting a live circus-theatre performance which will see audiences eating a meal served by the very artists they have come to watch.

The Crashmat Collective

Super Pseudo is co-produced by the centre and the Crashmat Collective and marks a foray into experiential theatre.

The idea is that the audience is totally immersed in the experience they are witnessing and are almost eavesdropping on the restaurant staff's lives. The aim is to blur the boundaries between performer and the audience.

The Crashmat Collective is a new company involving experienced performers from No Fit State circus and Mary Bijou Cabaret.

Although café staff will be present, the artists will bring pre-ordered dishes to the tables for the audiences to eat and serve drinks at the bar, offering snippets of insights into imagined lives. The centre tweeted on Wednesday that audiences will be in for a real surprise.

Performances began last night and will continue until Saturday 14 January 2012, where the Riverfront's studio theatre will be transformed into a circus-café space.

The Crashmat Collective in rehearsal earlier this week

Spokeswoman Rachel Kinchin said: "A café in a circus or a circus in a café? Come and meet Crashmat's performers, see their stories unfold in thrilling and touching ways; while eating and drinking at your table - served by those same performers.

"The performance provides an insight into the restaurant staff's internal thought processes, varying from beautiful to funny and always unpredictable."

Ticket prices range from £11 to £14, although any food must be pre-ordered. Some drinks-only tickets are still available.