F E S T I VA L DA N C E | Reviews
OCKHAM’S RAZOR: THIS TIME Testing the limits of body and soul in a multigenerational circus ●●●●●
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Usually when a circus performer is called brave, it means they have vaulted to the top of a tower of four people, or trotted blithely across the wheel of death. But here, in Saint Stephen’s Church, 60-year-old aerialist Lee Carter is standing at the edge of the stage, facing us straight on and telling us about what must surely be one of the most heartbreaking moments of her life. Before this, Ockham Razor’s co-artistic director Charlotte Mooney has talked candidly about the very un-sugar-coated world of new motherhood. And we have learned about the illness her partner, co-artistic director Alex Harvey, suffered as a baby, and about the hopes and dreams of 13-year-old Faith Fahy. Whatever tumbling, swinging, body-flipping, and risking of
shoulders and backs by bearing the weight of each other they exhibit, the inner vulnerability each performer opens themselves up to by sharing intimate details of their lives is surely just as daring. There are continuations of the Ockham’s Razor style in this piece:
custom built aerial equipment, the curious play with balance, gravity and rotation, the pensive human Newton’s cradles they build from their bodies. But This Time feels genuinely different. By showing us each performer’s body and different strengths, it posits that all feats are relative and invites us to appreciate that whatever we do to test our own limits is extraordinary. Harvey and Mooney shine in a whirling, tangling duet; a
three-generational double trapeze is hypnotic, and the whole ensemble makes beautiful knotted cradles. But it’s when Carter picks up the densely-muscled Harvey and carries him across her back that is most breathtaking. Brave, thought-provoking and wonderful. (Lucy Ribchester) n Saint Stephen’s Theatre, until 25 Aug (not 20), 3pm, £16.50– £17.50 (£13.50–£15).
ATOMIC SALOON SHOW Raunchy, Wild West cabaret-style circus ●●●●● BACKBONE Stunning synchronised tumbling ●●●●●
Sexy and funny – or, depending on your point of view, crude and silly – is a pretty unbeatable combination, in comedy director extraordinaire Cal McCrystal’s outrageously raunchy cabaret/circus entertainment.
Think Fringe classic La Clique revamped by Mel Brooks, director of Blazing Saddles, and you’ll have some idea of what’s in store.
McCrystal’s predilection for naughty-minded,
potty-mouthed humour is deployed full-throttle by a top-notch cast, headed by the eye-wettingly hilarious Petra Massey as a smoking-crotched Madam cum compere. From Colin Cahill’s dopey singing cowboy, and the sensationally fast and precise Irish dance and hand tap duo Peter Harding and Suzanne Cleary, to the delicious ping pong juggler known as Fofo as an unforgettable nun with balls, everyone in this ensemble is having a helluva good time. That includes dazzling circus performers like the awesomely built hand balancer Pavel Stankevic, or zesty pole artiste Alina Shpynova. On press night, the brawling line dance finale still needed finessing, but already the goofy, sex-positive spirit of McCrystal’s Vegas-bound joke-fest felt fully formed. In short, this show is a total blast. Yee-haw! (Donald Hutera) n Assembly George Square Gardens, until 25 Aug, 10.10pm, £16–£17 (£15–£18).
66 THE LIST FESTIVAL 14–26 Aug 2019
With so many circuses in town, it’s hard for them all to have something unique. This Australian troupe is in a league of its own in terms of the acrobats’ balletic teamwork and original routines. There are several stunning sections of powerful, synchronised tumbling, or bodies neatly crossing each other mid-air like precisely aimed life-sized paper airplanes, so it’s a pity they pad the action out with daft bursts of comedy. Metal buckets of soil are earnestly upturned on the gymnasts faces, or a knight in a suit of armour creaks across the stage, maybe to give the performers a few moments to catch their breath, but actually just detracting from the much more impressive action.
Like when the laidback performers turn
themselves into a human Rube Goldberg machine, and their floppy limbs trigger a domino effect of graceful jumps and stunts, or the bit where they all balance massive wooden poles on their foreheads, keeping them straight like upended spirit levels.
The audience gasps out loud a lot, either at fluid sequences of relentless rubbery gymnastics or moments when the group hoists someone up high towards the ceiling. Naff humour aside, it’s very impressive modern circus. (Claire Sawers) n Underbelly Bristo Square, until 26 Aug (not 19), 5pm, £17.50–£18.50 (£16.50–£17.50).
INTERBEING Physical theatre piece on war photography is sharply told but lacks depth ●●●●●
Barcelona-based duo Lana Biba and Txema Perez make a versatile team. If you caught their last Fringe offering – grotesque elderly clown double-act Losing It – you won’t recognise them in their more serious current incarnations. They are masterful physical performers and have amassed a team of similarly sharp storytellers this time, to enact a weightier piece based on the experiences of press photographers embedded in Ukrainian war zones. The ensemble fires and zips through images of
dissent, destruction and resilience, taking in student protests, bombs exploding in a school, checkpoints, militia training, the camaraderie of soldiers in camp.
Each scene snaps into the next with the speed and precision of a graphic novel. Drawn in part from the performers’ own experiences, the images they create feel authentic and compassionately painted.
But the same problems that beset Losing It – namely ones of dramaturgy – resurface here as well, and the story feels slight and generic. Biba and Perez share an outstanding eye for narrative dance; you only wish they would go that little bit further in interrogating their material. (Lucy Ribchester) n Assembly Rooms, until 25 Aug (not 20), 3.30pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13).