The very best circus makes it appear as though gravity isn’t working. Tricks that require extreme energy, strength and effort are made to appear easy as breathing – as if the performers are playing tag in a playground, only on vertical as well as horizontal planes. Great circus has its audience members having to remind themselves of the difficulty of the tricks being performed, and of the monumental skill required.
In terms of performance, Circa certainly achieves this and more. Last year, the Queensland circus company brought Opus to Perth Festival, a darker and more somber performance that combined circus with a string quartet. This year, their mood is decidedly more playful with Beyond; a piece that uses giant rabbit heads, animal costumes and impressive circus play to purportedly step over “the line between human and animal, between madness and sanity, between logic and dream”.
The seven performers of Beyond are light and agile as squirrels, achieving monumental things while making it look as though it takes no skill at all. Performers shimmy up Chinese poles and stand stock straight in three-high towers. They leap on top of each other into playful tangles, contort into impossible shapes, and run around the stage. Dance and physical theatre are integral parts of the performance and the forms meld gloriously. There are quieter moments also: a red gown and blown snow, a dance with a single sheet of paper, an aerial performance to a heartbreaking cover of ‘Fake Plastic Trees’ by Radiohead.
Beyond also cleverly subverts gender while refusing to make a big deal about it: the women are equal players to the men – regularly playing base, leading the show – and it’s a woman who is the strongest onstage. It’s a casual assumption of gender balance without issue and it’s very refreshing.
Beyond is, however, a collage of spectacle without reason. The theme, of exploring the beast within, is used as an overly loose binding agent for Circa’s collection of fabulous sketches. While a distinct narrative may not be required, some sort of theme is, and Beyond’s is not illustrated well enough to work as a cohesive through line. Why is that man madly pecking at his head with his hands? Why is that woman leaping onto the laps of the audience? What’s with the theatrical nausea? If justified, these elements could have fed into the brilliance of the show. Instead, they lend a level of messiness and repetition to the 75-minute performance that could have been pulled off as intentional, if only the theme were articulated with more depth.
Beyond is aesthetically effortless, mesmerising circus that is both accessible and wonderfully playful. It lacks cohesion, but is a fantastic experience if you’re in the mood for beautiful spectacle.
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Circa presents Beyond
Artistic Director: Yaron Lifschitz
Regal Theatre, Perth
17-21 February
Perth International Arts Festival
perthfestival.com.au
13 February – 7 March
