Movies, musicals, cartoons, and now the circus: The Wizard of Oz has been reimagined for CircusWest's annual performance, and the performing arts society's artistic director Jay Nunns says audiences can expect an interesting take on the classic story with their show, The Circus of Oz.

"I think the audience will be delighted in our updating of the tale, and our way of telling it through circus.... We've taken the ideas from [the original], and we're kind of repurposing them and having fun with it," said Nunns in an interview at the PNE Garden Auditorium, where the show will be presented later this week.

Think unicycle-riding munchkins, trampolining flying monkeys, and a tightrope-walking Dorothy, all performed by students of CircusWest's centre stage and performance classes. 

CircusWest, Western Canada's largest non-profit society geared strictly towards circus arts, gives young, eager students the chance to put their skills to the test in an encouraging and non-competitive learning environment.

Each year the society holds an annual performance, where everything from storylines to sets to costumes are generated by the indviduals who make up the cast and crew.

This year, Nunns said the team made an effort to cut costs wherever possible by "upcycling" costumes and set pieces from previous shows, and even using LED lights to save on energy.

Members of the cast—none of whom exceed the age of 18—also volunteered their time to build and develop parts of the set.

Tickets for the show, which will be performed twice a day from May 7 to 10, are available via the CircusWest website.