𓁺

MITCH JONES

aka captain ruin

𓁺 MITCH JONES aka captain ruin

PUNK CLOWN

DIRECTOR

AUTHOR

𓁺

ABOUT ME

I AM A PERFORMING ARTIST, creative director and cultural leader from naarm/melbourne working in circus and physical theatre!

Wow, you’re like Australia’s Harry Houdini!
— John Safran, ABC Radio

my memoir is out on August 24th, published by pressure books!

My Work

My award-winning performance practice sits at the intersection of experimental circus, physical theatre and punk culture.

I have toured and performed with major companies including Snuff Puppets, Younes Bachir (La Fura Dels Baus - Spain), Circus Oz and Slava’s Snowshow (France/Russia), as well as enjoying a thrilling entertainment career as circus daredevil Captain Ruin.

In 2018 I founded alt-circus company Oozing Future to create innovative physical performances aimed at general audiences. Our shows AutoCannibal, Strange Chaos, Apocrypha and Cirque Le Strange have been seen on major stages in Australia and internationally.

My creative practice is accompanied by a programmatic focus on building healthy, sustainable and radical communities within the performing arts through initiatives such as Circus.txt, the annual free Oozing Future Creative Lab, and a Circus Directors Residency. I also offer Futures Thinking workshops that aim to inspire collective visions of post-capitalist futures.

Through advocacy to business and government I seek to transform understandings of culture as a public good. I graduated with a Masters degree in Cultural Leadership from the National Institute of Dramatic Arts in Sydney 2026, and completed an international research placement with Khoj Studios in New Delhi, India. I have shared my work at several major gatherings, including the World Summit on Arts and Culture (South Korea, 2025), the Montreal Circus Festival (Canada, 2025), the Australian Circus Summit (2025) and the International Federation of Theatre Research (2026).

Autocannibal

A ‘hell-dark clownscape’ (Sydney Morning Herarld), where the survivor of an environmental apocalypse battles his demons and his appetite.

By comparing climate change to self-harm and addiction, this work asked why humans do things that we know are bad for us.

Jones is a master of physical theatre⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Guardian.

Seasons:
Theatreworks, Saint Kilda, 2019
Sydney Festival, 2021
Darwin Festival, 2022

Supported by Creative Victoria.

PERFORMING

Strange chaos

A punk clown show in the headlights of a car, this immersive and site specific work won the Best in Circus award at the Melbourne Fringe Festival 2025.

Reviews described it as ‘an unforgettable ride’ (Australian Arts Review) and ‘technically flawless’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (ArtsHub).

Seasons:
Adelaide Fringe, 2023 and 2025
Glastonbury Festival, UK, 2025
Melbourne Fringe, 2025
Woodford Folk Festival, 2025/26

Supported by Creative Australia.

CAPTAIN RUIN

For over 20 years I have been performing circus and sideshow as the punk-rock daredevil Captain Ruin.

I’ve been set on fire, escaped from straitjackets while hanging underneath cranes or balancing on rollerskates, walked high-wires over raging rivers, lifted extremely heavy weights with very delicate parts of my body and thrown pointed objects around beautiful humans. All in all, I’ve had quite a good time.

A peer once told me that ‘Captain Ruin is like everyone’s id. He does all the things on-stage that we know aren’t supposed to.’