Review: The 7 Fingers Presents PASSENGERS At A.C.T. Geary

2022 is the year of the ascendancy of circus arts evidenced by the sensational AirOtic's run at the Great Star, Club Fugazi's current 7 Fingers creation Dear San Francisco, and now their newest effort Passengers. By the zealous audience receptions, the physical artistry and beauty of the performers in various seldom seen art forms is just what the doctor ordered.

Passengers is much more than an exhibition of the extremely talented casts particular skills. You must wrap the performances into a coherent story and here, creator Shana Carroll, uses train travel as the literal and figurative vehicle for the numbers. Travel as a metaphor is explored using projections, music and spoken word. People meet fellow travelers, connections are made and dissolved, and people travel to new places or leave old ones. The concepts are quite esoteric reminiscent of modern dance or abstract art leaving the audiences to decipher meaning.

As a former gymnast, I understand the technical aspects of the cast's maneuvers. You marvel at the floor exercise skills of Dina Sok, Andrew Summer and Beto Freitas as they flip and fly across the stage. Nellas Niva and Meliejade Tremblay-Bouchard display strength in supporting the men who climb their bodies and shoulders. Mandi Orozco has a long history of danced and circus training and Santiago Rivera Laugerud is a master juggler. Kaisha Dessalines-Wright is a maestro of the hoops.

The show always moves briskly with usually the entire cast onstage, which can lend to distract one's attention from what should be the focus of a scene, but overall, the staging is electric and skills like the silks, tightrope walking, and hoops were dazzling. Its nice to see this artform getting its just due in a city that has a long history of support for circus arts (Pickle Family Circus, Circus Bella to name a few).

Passengers runs through October 9th, 2022. Tickets available at 415.749.2228 or tickets@act-sf.org

Photo credit: Kevin Berne