Review: HEKA, The Place

After Gandini Jugglers went all retro on us last year by bringing back their classic outing Smashed, the sine qua non of British circus return with a brand new show Heka.

Named after the Egyptian goddess of magic, this final entry in what has once again been another awe-inspiring MimeLondon festival is in many ways typical Gandini fare: an intelligent and thought-provoking deep dive filled with physical flair and childlike fun. This time around there (thankfully) is no mass obliteration of fruit. Instead, co-founders Sean Gandini and Kati Ylä-Hokkala focus on the world of magic which, on the face of it, is a strange choice. 

On the one hand, the public perceptions of their practitioners are at apparent odds: what can obsessive introverts in black suits have in common with gym-loving super-dextrous acrobats at home under the bright lights of a big top? On the other, they have very different ideas on showmanship: one traditionally has an intimate style based on distraction, illusion and sleight of hand or elaborate props building up to a reveal, the other is all about the grand aerial expressions where a range of objects are thrown through the air with sensational skill. So where’s the intersection?

The obvious overlap - both magic and juggling require mastery of physical manipulation - is explored in less than obvious ways. The easy option of going down the gentleman juggler route is swerved in place of a more deft approach. Those expecting to see top-hatted performers chucking about packs of cards, wands or stuffed rabbits will be disappointed. There is a bit of that from Mr G but, as per the company’s typically innovative methods, the topic at hand is tackled every which way in a series of sequences that manage to be intellectually intriguing as well as highly entertaining. 

The set pieces both large and small come thick and fast with only a slight sense of lag and repetition towards the end. The cast (Kate Boschetti, Sean Gandini, Tedros Girmaye, Doreen Grossman, Jose Triguero, Yu-Hsien Wu and Kati Ylä-Hokkala) are all on form if not initially visible. 

A charming opening scene sees Wu facing the audience from behind a long table. As she moves this way and that, balls appear and disappear, as do extra hands, arms and other body parts. What could have been very static is turned into a fluent introduction to how magic and juggling are closely connected.

Inspired by Gandini’s childhood fascination with all things magic while growing up in Havana, there’s evidence from that auspicious start of the massive research and collaboration that has gone into this show. Finnish visual artist and magician Kalli Nio lends his darkly atmospheric style to several scenes while the French arch-manipulator Yann Frisch is more than just a YouTube sensation. Both have won prizes at the international FISM competition (Nio for his invention and Frisch for his close-up skills) and it is fascinating to see how the Gandini troupe have infused these influences into routines which go from the playfully bonkers to the plain bonkers.

In part due to Guy Hoare’s lighting which shifts from black to red and back again and Andy Cowton dusky soundtrack, there’s an atmosphere of smoke and mirrors a world away from the usually bright lit world of the big top. Gandini in his bright red suit serves as ringmaster, playing up to the obfuscation and theatrical reveals inherent in the show’s subject by inventing hilariously ridiculous biographies for his team and spouting quotes from the likes of Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin (“the father of magic”). These bon mots about the dramaturgical underpinnings of conjuring are then repeated in different languages as the troupe continue their juggling, smartly folding in what could be showy intellectualism into their core offering.

This being The Place, London’s high temple to independent dance productions, there’s no shortage of well-choreographed pieces towards the end. There are also implicit nods to possible future projects. The underlying mathematics beneath juggling and its siteswap notation are presented here as rhythmic numerical chants similar to those heard in Phillip Glass’ Einstein On The Beach. Phelim McDermott is bringing that opera to Manchester as part of the ENO’s move away from London and, previously, the Gandinis memorably worked with the My Neighbour Totoro on his brilliant interpretation of Glass' Akhnaten. 

Heka is not quite the finished article. There are some loose strands (a spoken section on the treatment of female magicians fizzles out and seems more of an adjunct to the main themes, rather than an introduction to what follows) and, while dancing isn’t their forte, the choreography in the latter sequences could be tighter. The cheeky finale which reverses the opening is more of a tease than a reveal. It’s a wave or two of a wand away from being another magic chapter of the Gandini story.

Heka is currently on tour.

Photo credit: Camilla Greenwell

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