Interview: Acrobuffos' Seth Bloom & Christina Gelsone Bringing AIR PLAY Worldwide

World-renown performance artists Acrobuffos will be making their Southern California debut at The Broad Stage with their show Air Play beginning July 21, 2022. The husband-and-wife team of Seth Bloom and Christina Gelsone have travelled the world performing their wordless, highly visual shows. Seth and Christina both took some time from their "intense residency building a new show" to speak a few words for my queries.

Thank you Both for doing this interview?

How did you come about the title of your company - Acrobuffos?

Seth Bloom: The Acrobuffos was simply the name of our first show, a portmanteau of acrobat and buffoon. Eventually the title of the show morphed into our company name. We now jokingly define an Acrobuffo as "a silent comic actor creating spectacular feats of laughter."

Whose idea was it initially to create Acrobuffos in 2005? Seth? Or Christina?

Christina Gelsone: Ha! Funny question, the idea was mutual. When we met in Afghanistan, we knew right away we wanted to work with each other. Seth had been a juggler, I had been a ballerina, but we both wanted to make silent comedy. 2005, holy moly. So many surprises along the way: we've made seven original shows, performed on every livable continent, competed in international circus festivals, headlined at the Big Apple Circus, sold out at renowned theater festivals, and even got married.

What advice would you give a couple who wanted to begin working together?

CG: Give each other room to fail, time to grow, and trust each other. If there is a problem, focus on fixing the work, not each other. Oh, and have separate beds when work is intense. Sleep is for now, marriage is forever.

What was the catalyst for starting Acrobuffos?

CG: To make physical, inventive shows that are beautiful and FUNNY. All of our shows are without words so we can perform anywhere in the world. The best part of working internationally, besides the laughs, is the food. When we started, we knew laughter was universal, but after touring Air Play around the world, we've learned that beauty is appreciated by everyone, too.

What would your three-line pitch for Air Play be?

SB: Is this like a California movie elevator question? Set the timer and go! Part comedy, part sculpture, part circus, part theater, you've never seen anything like Air Play: fabrics fly high over the audience, balloons swallow people, and silks soar 45 feet into the air. It's so beautiful, you've got to see it live, no movie screen could do it justice. Come for the sculptures, stay for the laughs, and leave with a warm-hearted hope for life.

How did you make Air Play?

SB: We saw a video of two silks floating and falling within an air vortex of fans, and reached out to the kinetic sculptor, Daniel Wurtzel, whose work is in museums all over the world. Over the next five years, we collaborated with him to make Air Play, and there are new sculptures in the show that are seen nowhere else in the world.

How many people do you travel with?

SB: Believe it or not, since we premiered in 2015, we have had the same small team of four: us, our stage manager, and our technical director. (Our stage manager runs all the lights, music, and fans - over 150 cues in Air Play!) We're the perfect traveling team: we can solve any problem, fit into one taxi, and eat just about everything. We've now been to nearly 90 theaters around the world on five continents, and we're all looking forward to the run at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica.

What country featured you on their postage stamp?

SB: The Republic of Cameroon, in 2012, though we've never been there. Someone else saw a picture of the stamp alongside some other circus legends. Someday we hope we can perform there and maybe even find a philatelic shop to see if it really happened.

Acrobuffos has created seven shows so far. Do you have an eighth show percolating in your heads now?

SB: As a matter of fact, we do! We just had our first showing in Connecticut. It's very much like Air Play - no words, funny, beautiful, meaningful - though with a different base material, plastic. Maybe it will take us around the world like Air Play has.

Your home base is New York City. Out of all the places you're performed around the world, what holds the most significance to you?

CG: China for the history, Chile for the poetry. New Zealand for the trees, Australia for the birds. Portugal for the vintage theaters, Netherlands for the modern ones. Hong Kong for the surrealism, Korea for the modernism, and Singapore for both. Everywhere for food. And the children of Afghanistan will always hold our hearts.

Is there a venue that you haven't performed at that you'd love to wow the audiences at?

SB: Ah, the "dream" theater. We've already performed in two: the Shanghai Grand Theater in China and the Durian Theater in Singapore. We had seen them decades before and always wondered, who performs there? This fall we'll be at the famed large hall of the Kennedy Center. Perhaps someday we'll be at the Sydney Opera House or the Mariinsky. But really, we're excited wherever laughs are to be found, like surfers looking for the next wave. Perhaps an apropos analogy, as our next "wave of laughter" is with you at the Broad Stage! Our first time performing in Southern California, and we couldn't have imagined a better spot.

Thank you again, Seth and Christina! I look forward to experiencing your Air Play.

For tickets to the live performances of Air Play through July 31, 2022; click on the button below:

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