A blonde woman in shades, hat and a bright red dress teeters along a tightrope, back and forth, tentatively. An audience holds its breath. We’re right up against her. Gradually she disrobes, frock flung to the floor, heels kicked off, wig chucked. Now she’s barefoot, in something like a petticoat, gliding, soaring, as the accompanying song, So Long Farewell, pounds the auditorium, reaching its climax. It’s a surreal but touching scene, like something from a David Lynch film, and the heart of what alternative circus troupe NoFit State are about.
Their new production, BIANCO, is an immersive experience that takes place above, behind and all around a standing audience, as the multiple sets are built, deconstructed and rebuilt all around.
Inspired by ‘The Elephant’s Journey’, the last book by Nobel-Prize winning Portuguese author Jose Saramago, the show, which combines live music, dance, and traditional circus skills, is really about giving oneself up to the potential of the human body: high trapeze, juggling, hula hoops, hi-jinks on scaffolding.
To be honest, the first half absorbed more than the second, although the tattooed girl with trapeze in the finale was mesmerizing. Throughout we were shuffled around with flawless directions from the floor staff but if you don’t like being jostled, spoken to by the cast, pressed up against other people, the smell of sweat high in the air, it might be best to book a more conventional show.
And a mention should go to the pounding soundtrack performed by the live band, Fireproof Giant, headed up by musical director Gareth Jones. Evocative and poignant, the songs’ lyrics layered a spiritual narrative to the energy of the performers, particularly in the impressive Say It’s All right, which closed the first half.
For pure escapism – and to experience that tentative threshold between safety and danger – this is one not to miss. The performers’ technical skill is coupled with something raw around the edges, and maybe this is the show’s power; it’s less smooth than you might expect, as if something may go wrong at any minute. “If death came now, I’d go peacefully,” the band sing at one point.
I for one left the Roundhouse with the combined feeling of both the thrill of the body’s potential and fragility of being alive.
Words: Stephen Emms
