Directed by Yaron Lifschitz .
Canberra Theatre, 4th – 6th November
2020
Reviewed by Bill Stephens
Circa never fails to impress with the skills of its artists,
and the ingenuity of its presentations. “Peepshow” is no exception.
For this show , seven highly skilled acrobats, Nathan Boyle,
Rhiannon Cave-Walker, Kimberley O’Brien, Luke Thomas, Alice Muntz, Billie
Wilson-Coffey and Scott Grove, working with
minimal props and very minimal costumes, but armed with a repertoire of jaw-dropping
acrobatics, enthralled their audience
with their sheer physicality, skill and panache.
“Peepshow” is presented in two acts, the first of which is
light-hearted and cheeky, performed to an engaging techno soundtrack, with the
performers smartly costumed in uni-sex, ruffled-collared white shirts and
glittery black trunks. A simple
sophisticated setting of a silver fringe curtain allowed the performers to
appear and disappear when not required on stage to perform some gravity-
defying stunt or support a colleague in another. Above the curtain, a neon sign
spelt out the name of the show.
The performers introduced themselves in a tightly
choreographed mirror-imaging routine. As
with previous Circa presentations, “Peepshow” is proudly ensemble, with the performers physically supporting
each other, regardless of sex, as
required by the complicated acrobatics which often elicited audible gasps from
the audience.
A couple of beefy blokes did the heavy lifting for routines
in which colleagues balanced on their shoulders to
perform seemingly impossible contortions and balances. Elsewhere the ladies flaunted their femininity
in cute, clever routines involving lots of red gloves and a confusion of body
parts.
Among the tightly choreographed ensemble routines there was space for each performer to show off specialities, among them an eye-watering
trapeze routine in which a performer hung by her heels, chin, and neck.
The mood changed for the second half of the show. The music,
the lighting and some of the acts, became darker, even menacing at times. However
the skill level was no less enthralling with each performer pushing their body
to such seemingly impossible limits that the audience was kept on tenterhooks as
to what that limit might be.
Despite its cheeky title, and the brevity of some of its costumes, “Peepshow” is a cleverly conceived and brilliantly executed show which is unlikely to raise an eyebrow of anyone interested in experiencing imaginatively-packaged, world-class acrobatics.
Photos supplied
This review first published in CITY NEWS on 5.11.20
