THIS IS NOT A CIRCUS: 360 at Jacksons Lane
★★★★★
“It is playful and funny and physically impressive”
The show is charming right off the bat. The audience stand in a large open space with a wall of mirrors, and are greeted by the Dutch acrobatic double act Karin Brodén and Hedvig Brodén. It is important to note that they are identical twins and wearing high necked brightly coloured tracksuits. This feels like both a twist on, and a nod to, traditional circus double acts. The performers stand behind a stack of stools with wheels. They wait. We wait. Then they point at individuals, silently gesturing to them, and one by one they slide the stools across the expanse of floor. It’s not just the children who are delighted by this unusual beginning.
The direction by Benjamin Kuitenbrouwer and Hanneke Meijers is superb. It is playful and funny and physically impressive. This duo also came up with the concept for this fascinating immersive performance. It is a performance for children and adults alike.
The audience are shaped, making a permeable performance space which Karin and Hedvig use every inch of. Sometimes we are in a circle, sometimes they circle us. There are beautiful moments of whispered intimacy – this trick is just for you. And bold moments of impressive acrobatics which have the audience clapping in awe. The acrobatics are amazing, standing flips and complex lifts. However, the performers’ calm and mischievous demeanours make the whole performance more about whimsy than flaunting physical talent. There’s a cheeky casualness throughout, they’re offhand about their abilities. Rather than an acrobatics show where the audience is invited to marvel at the spectacle, we are invited to participate, to help, and to root for these women.
The simplicity of the show is its genius. Two women and some wheeled stools is all it takes to build this weird magical performance.
A combination of silence and Dutch breaks down the communication barrier that makes some contemporary circus, especially clowning, feel forced or uncomfortable. It is beyond language, and the emotion is carried through their faces and bodies, in a light and joyous way.
There is no apparent story, and little shape to the act. But at around a 30-minute run time it is a delicious morsel of otherworldly weirdness.
THIS IS NOT A CIRCUS: 360 at Jacksons Lane
Reviewed on 8th October 2023
by Auriol Reddaway
Photography by Hanneke Meijers (from previous production)
More reviews this month:
Frankenstein | ★★★★ | Cambridge Arts Theatre | October 2023
Brown Boys Swim | ★★★★★ | Soho Theatre | October 2023
Shooting Hedda Gabler | ★★★★ | Rose Theatre Kingston | October 2023
Frankenstein | ★★★½ | St. Peter’s | October 2023
Flowers For Mrs Harris | ★★★★ | Riverside Studios | October 2023
Othello | ★★★★ | Riverside Studios | October 2023
This is Not a Circus
This is Not a Circus
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