The Showman
The Impresario
A theatrical master of ceremonies: charismatic, controlled, mischievous, and intensely aware of the audience.
Active01 · The Performer
> OPERATOR: FRASER_COPLAND
> STATUS: ACTIVE
> BASE: VANCOUVER_BC
> DISCIPLINES: CYR_WHEEL / AERIAL / HANDBALANCING / OBJECT_MANIPULATION
> EXPERIENCE: 21 YRS TRAINING / 11 YRS PERFORMANCE
> CURRENT_AFFILIATION: NONE
Fraser Copland is the creator and performer behind Rain City Circus.
His work combines contemporary circus, character performance,
physical theatre, costume, music, and real-time visual worlds to
create theatrical acts with distinct emotional identities.
Rain City is an independent creative project: a place for characters to develop through movement, apparatus, objects, transformation, and story. The visual technology supports the performance rather than defining it.
Rain City is an independent creative project: a place for characters to develop through movement, apparatus, objects, transformation, and story. The visual technology supports the performance rather than defining it.
> READY
02 · The World
About Rain City
Rain City Circus is an atmospheric world of industry, nature, rain, machinery, memory, and theatrical transformation. Set in a fictional, perpetually rain-soaked metropolis, the project uses physical circus as its language for telling stories.
The characters are not simply costumes or symbols. Each one has their own desires, contradictions, relationships, and ways of moving through the city. Circus technique becomes part of their personality: the apparatus is something they want, fear, study, control, play with, or transform.
"Welcome to Rain City Circus, where the masks reveal the rust."
The world is intentionally growing. New characters, acts, music, costumes, environments, and theatrical ideas are developed through rehearsal and performance rather than being fixed all at once.
03 · Characters
The Cast of Rain City
One performer, six characters in development. Each character is being discovered through movement, object work, costume, emotion, and rehearsal. Some already have stage-ready material; others are still finding their voice.
The Guide
Dekaru Goyikra
A ghostly, plague-masked figure whose movement explores weight, struggle, ritual, and transformation.
Active
The Builder
Professor Gearworth
An obsessive inventor who approaches objects as problems to solve, turning persistence, failure, and precision into comedy.
ActiveIn Development
The Sentinel
Orriven Sylthar
A deer-wolf wanderer: observant, instinctive, gentle, and quietly alert to the world around him.
In DevelopmentCharacter Study
The Trickster
Harlequin
Playful, disruptive, and physically unpredictable. Harlequin treats mistakes as invitations rather than failures.
In DevelopmentCharacter Study
The Caretaker
The Steward
Precise and service-minded. The Steward notices what needs doing and approaches every object with deliberate care.
In Development04 · Acts
Acts in Development
Professor Gearworth
Gearworth's Act
A high-energy character piece built around handstand box stacking, physical comedy, persistence, and a deliberately precarious tower. The act has now been performed and is being refined as a repeatable Rain City Circus repertoire piece.
Current development focus: stronger character motivation, emotional progression, and a clearer relationship between Gearworth and the objects he builds with.
Next Projects
Building the Repertoire
Future acts are being developed around the individual physical vocabularies of the Rain City characters. Current exploration includes object relationships, transformation, mirrors, layered costumes, and theatrical reveals.
The goal is not to make every character perform the same tricks. The goal is to discover what each character naturally wants to do.
05 · Performance History
Selected Performances
A decade of circus performance across Vancouver and British Columbia, spanning multidisciplinary festival work, original acts, and the character-driven performances of Rain City Circus.
Featured Performances
Gearworth — Chair Stacking / Handbalancing
July 2026 · Vancouver
Cirque du Slay
Performed as Professor Gearworth in a character-driven chair stacking and handbalancing act,
continuing the character's exploration through physical comedy,
balance, and increasingly ambitious apparatus work.
BOX STACKING · HANDBALANCING · CHARACTER PERFORMANCE
Fraser — Box Stacking / Handbalancing
July 2025 · Vancouver
Cirque du Slay
Performed as Fraser in a character-driven box stacking and
handbalancing act exploring identity and resilience through
an 8.5ft tower build.
BOX STACKING · HANDBALANCING · CHARACTER PERFORMANCE
Straitjacket Cyr Wheel
June 2024 · Vancouver
CircusWest 40th Anniversary Show
Performed an original straitjacket Cyr Wheel act exploring
themes of confinement and liberation — breaking from
physical restraints within the wheel.
CYR WHEEL · THEATRICAL PERFORMANCE
Cyr Wheel — Circurious Vol. 2
November 9, 2024 · Vancouver
Circollective
Performed an original Cyr Wheel act exploring identity
and self-expression. The performance was later selected
as the featured image for the Circurious Vol. 5
promotional poster.
CYR WHEEL
Box Stacking / Handbalancing
December 2025 · Vancouver
Cirque du Sleigh
Performed a handstand box stacking act exploring balance,
height, and architectural resilience.
BOX STACKING · HANDBALANCING
Festival & Event Work
Circus3 — New Year's Eve
2021 · 2023 · 2025 · Vancouver
Performed in three New Year's Eve events.
- 2021: Chair stacking handstand act
- 2023: Cyr Wheel as himself
- 2025: Cyr Wheel as Professor Gearworth
CYR WHEEL · CHAIR STACKING · HANDBALANCING
2016 — 2026 · British Columbia
CircusWest — Multiple Disciplines
Performing across festivals, corporate events, private events, and productions throughout BC. Selected engagements include Light Up Chinatown (2024–2026) and Sun Peaks Resort (2019–2021).
CYR WHEEL · SILKS · ROPE · TRAPEZE · HANDSTANDS · DIABOLO · EIGHT RINGS · FOLDING FANS · BOX STACKING · CHAIR STACKING
CircusWest represents Fraser's long-running performance background; Rain City Circus is his independent creative project developed alongside that broader circus practice.
06 · Gallery
Gallery
07 · Workshops
Acting for Circus Artists
The body telling a story is the same instrument you already master.
Most circus training focuses on what the body can do. This workshop asks a different question — who is doing it, and why?
Drawing on Laban Movement Analysis, apparatus relationship work, and character development frameworks adapted specifically for physical performance, this workshop gives circus artists a concrete toolkit for building characters that live inside their acts — not just on top of them.
What You'll Explore
- Laban Effort and the four motion factors as a vocabulary for character physicality
- Your relationship with your apparatus — and how that relationship drives narrative
- Character frameworks from acting theory, adapted for the circus context
- How to find the story that was already inside your choreography
Who It's For
Intermediate to advanced circus artists who want to deepen the narrative dimension of their work. No acting experience required — your apparatus is your instrument.
Format
Available as a half-day intensive for groups, or as a private session for individual performers. Workshops can be delivered at your studio or venue anywhere.
"The apparatus already contains the story. Your job is to notice
what was already there."
Inquire About Booking
08 · Synchronize
Book Rain City Circus
Rain City Circus is available for festivals, private events, theatre productions, festivals, and private or corporate showcases in Vancouver and beyond.
For booking inquiries, technical requirements, or general questions, transmit a message through the system and Fraser will respond.
Follow us on Instagram:
@raincitycircus
