Billed as the best of circus and the best of music, Scotch and Soda is a new show by the co-creators of Cantina, in conjunction with Ben Walsh and The Crusty Suitcase Band.
Set in an unnamed era, the evening features a travelling-band that provides the soundtrack to a raucous blend of daredevil trapeze and acrobatics. In addition to drunken debauchery, a healthy level of playful scrapping between the scruffily dressed David Carberry and Daniel Catlow, and some seemingly impossible balancing acts, there are a number of highlights. The trapeze acts of Chelsea McGuffin and Mozes feature an awe-inspiring routine where he spins in circles in mid-air, attached to her only by a rope around both of their necks. The impressive Acrobatic Apache dance between Carbery and McGuffin makes her look almost weightless. There’s also plenty of handstands and acro-balance, culminating in an extended petite teeterboard routine from Catlow and the team. Throughout the evening, Ben Walsh and the Crusty Suitcase Band provide a fantastic musical score with obvious gypsy and Balkan influences.
From the start of the night, the audience is transported into a wild party, which evokes a prohibition-era bar. The music is loud and the entertainment is fast-paced and high quality. The performers engage in outstanding acrobatic feats while making it seem like part of a bar-room brawl, or a drunken fantasy. The stage is consistently full of life and energy, which seeps into the audience.
Costume design is superb, conjuring romantic images of a non-specific place and time in which back alley bars were frequented by misfits, vagrants and strong, cheeky women. There are stellar performances by all cast members, who should see no shortage of job offers after this run.
The musical accompaniment is the backbone of the show however. Legendary performers Ben Walsh and band members including Matt Ottignon and his brother Eden are amongst the hardest working musicians in Sydney. As with his fellow band members, Ottignon is unrecognisable in this show but the quality of the performances is as high as in any dimly-lit jazz-bar gig. Like the circus performers, the musicians do an excellent job of remaining in character throughout the show, with all using their acting skills to some degree.
Audiences expecting a repeat of the acclaimed Cantina won’t find it in this show. This is its beauty: Scotch and Soda is in a genre all of its own. It achieves the perfect blend of music and performance to immensely satisfy and involve the audience.
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Scotch and Soda
By Company 2 and The Crusty Suitcase Band
Co-Directors and Performers: Chelsea McGriffin & David Carberry
Co-Creators and Performers: Daniel Catlow & Mozes
Co-artistic director, musical director and performer: Ben Walsh
Saxophone/ Clarinet: Matthew Ottignon
Bass: Eden Ottignon
Saxophone: Justin Fermino
Trombone: Lucian McGuiness
Production Company: Lady Torpedo Productions
Producer: Chelsea McGuiffin
Rigger/ Performer: Simon Mitchell
Sound Engineer: Mik LaVage
Producing Partner: Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts
Supporting Partner: Flipside Circus.
Circus Ronaldo Tent, Hyde Park
Sydney Festival
sydneyfestival.org.au/2014/All-Events/Scotch-and-Soda/
10-26 January
