Review: Guest Reviewer Kym Vaitiekus Shares His Thoughts On CIRCA'S PEEPSHOW

Wednesday 20th April 2022, 7.30. Theatre Royal Sydney.

Brisbane based company Circa present a double act at the reimagined Theatre Royal in Sydney. They offer a show for all ages in school holiday hours, WOLFGANG'S MAGICAL MUSICAL CIRCUS. At night they it's the adult viewing CIRCA'S PEEPSHOW.

This company of amazing acrobats with Keaton Hentoff-Killian, Jon Bonaventura, Holly-Rose Boyer, Rhiannon Cave Walker, Gerramy Marsden, Alice Muntz, Lachlan Sukroo, and Billie Wilson-Coffey present a night of extraordinary physical feats.

Their talent and mind-boggling ability to bend, balance and contort their bodies is masterful. I'm sure the audience doesn't fully understand the skills required to execute such wonderous feats with the human body. Yes, the audience was suitably impressed. But the company makes the moves look easy to accomplish which has the double edge sword of presenting their skill set while it diminishes the depth and difficulty of that skill.

The evening presents a variety of routines that include acrobatics, rope, cloth, strap and trapeze work. It is wonderful to experience some new moves, as seen in Bonaventura's rope work. The walking on heads was a marvel to watch. The box work by Marsden was a highlight. A routine where some of the troupe where hidden by black cloth as support for Wilson-Coffey was a delight to discover.

Circa Artistic Director, Yaron Lifschitz, presents "Peepshow. Hot, sweaty, sexy and tough".

His vision has created a departure from the usual circus presentations. We enjoyed a night of comical routines, gasping physical feats, emotive dance moves, risqué acrobatics, and movement theatre.

This new approach to the circus arena was not clear in the first half of the night. The intention seemed disjointed and unclear. There was a mix of choices in costumes, music, routines, and genres.

After interval, Keaton Hentoff-Killian's routine wonderfully succeeded in the evening's intent. The routine beautifully combined the acrobatic skill with this angst-ridden scene. The physical movements and emotions presented an engaging and expletory work. A fine routine.

This creative new approach was not clear in some of the other routines of the night, especially in the first part of the night.

The finale was an engaging exploration of human emotion. It combined the acrobatic skill with interpretive movements to present a tender and beautiful routine. It was a superbly visual and emotive piece.

The night felt like a Peepshow of emotions. A departure from the usual meaning of this title.

During the night's performance the Peepshow neon sign would randomly change the colours of individual letters. The meaning of this was not clear. This represented the direction of the show. A mixed bag of ideas and choices that weren't quite cohesive.

The choice to perform this show at the Theatre Royal is also a curious one. It's great to have a new venue in Sydney but the large stage created distance between the audience and the energy of a circus performance.

To feel the impact of this company's physical skill we need to be closer.

The staging didn't help the lighting. In the first half, at times, it seemed over lit. The Black cloth routine was devised to hide the troupe that were behind the fabric, the lighting was not successful with this.

In the second half, the lighting was dramatic. This was fitting with the style of the performance but we missed seeing some of the extraordinary physical feats the company presented.

One routine required blackouts as part fof the intended effect but light spill from off stage meant we could see the troupe make their changes during the darkness.

Peepshow makes a brave exploration into a mix of circus, dance movement and performance art.

The Circa troupe are masters in their circus craft. See this work to enjoy their skill and to experience this exciting new approach that deserves to explore and grow.

https://www.theatreroyalsydney.com/events/season-2022/circas-peepshow/

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