Circus Oz
Melbourne Town Hall until October 5, 1997
Reviewed by Kate Herbert around 16 Sep, 1997
There's one thing
about Oz. We give good circus and this year's Circus Oz season at the Melbourne
Town Hall is no exception.
David Carlin's direction is slick giving the program a
smooth structure. The show is stylish and segues efficiently between acts.
Carlin has avoided any loose narrative and concentrated on highlighting
individual skills developed into snappy routines.
The opening act is a crowd-grabber as six acrobats scamper
up a pole like monkeys. Just when you
think there are no new ways to do balances and trapeze, they surprise us. The
stage pictures are beautiful.
The marbled fountain statues spouting water are clever and
funny. The sexy trapeze double act was like Ann-Margret and Marlon Brando in
the air and the floor duo was a sensual and exotic follow-up. Genevieve Morris
does the 'most difficult and dangerous of all circus feats: acting!"
Juliet's balcony scene - backwards.
Michael Ling's tequila-soaked Matador with Tim Coldwell's
Toro on a tight wire is a hit as is Per Westman's trick of dressing while
juggling. We have a reprise of Coldwell's old fave of walking on the roof and
of the hilariously dignified but nigh-naked drummer, Chris Lewis, playing horns
in every nook and cranny of his body.
The second half is like being on the bus in the movie,
Speed, but with better music and wilder stunts. Imagine, just as the bus is heading
helter-skelter toward the unleapable gap in the freeway, some lunatic
Australian acrobat hurling herself through the air, forming a human bridge.
The show is a juggernaut, building momentum until the
audience begs for a break from jaw-wrenching astonishment. The skills of this
company of multi-talented performers increase exponentially yearly. A
two-year-old in the front row squatted, tongue poised millimetres from his
choc-top, gaping at extraordinary feats of strength and dexterity in the ring.
And the Chinese hoop diving never ceases to astound me.
Phillip Lethlean and Gina Gascoigne's lighting design is
exceptional with elaborate abstract shapes splashing over floor, ceiling and
artists. Laurel Frank's costumes are a fiesta of visions in lycra.
The band, under musical director Carl Polke, provides
pounding rock and dramatic background for every occasion. Does everybody in
this company play instruments?
Take everybody you know. Go "Ooh! Aah!" Eat a
choc-top. It's a great night at the circus.
KATE HERBERT
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