At Circus Oz’s latest offering, Model Citizens, audiences won’t have to.

While the rest of us went to math class, Circus Oz acrobat and hand balancer Shani Stephens went to circus school.

“I left home at 14 to go to a place I’ve never been and live with a family I’ve never met,” she said.

“This is my first show with Circus Oz, I’m one of the youngest they’ve ever had.”

Model Citizens unfolds in a cleverly designed model-kit world where everyday objects become circus equipment.

It’s a visually and emotionally charged journey that challenges what it means to be a model citizen in today’s model kit society.

Stephens emerges from an oversized matchbox in her impressive act.

“I was a gymnast for a lot of my childhood, I got sick of competing and doing the same routines so I found a circus in Brisbane and went there for a year,” she said.

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“You’re doing what you love, you’re training everyday and then performing which gives you the biggest high.

“With Model Citizens I had never worked with the cast before, so I had two weeks to learn the show but also build the trust with all these new people in the cast, but it builds so quickly because you know they’re strong enough and able.

“It’s always a bit nerve-wracking at the start.”

Model Citizens is in Tamworth September 1 and 2 at the Capitol Theatre, for information visit capitoltheatretamworth.com.au