★★★★★

“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.

FRANKENSTEIN at St Peter’s Church Crypt

★★★

“There are also some really beautiful and sinister pieces of physical theatre”

It’s a dark and chilly night in Hoxton and we have come to church. After a quick safety briefing, we are ushered down a perilous staircase and into the crypt. When we reach the bottom of the stairs, we enter a different world. The crypt has been dressed to look like a Victorian pub/brothel and the Victorian Gothic dress code (which I realised after the fact) makes it hard to tell who’s audience, and who’s performing. It is totally immersive.

After some introductory general old-timey improv, the play begins proper. It’s a reworking of Frankenstein, focussing on his early life and family. Much of the story is the same as the original, but with the crucial difference that the corpse he reanimates is his mother. It’s a fascinating idea, she is both his mother and his child, though this is only lightly explored. The changes to the original story seem a little random, and occasionally quite repetitive, but it does make it feel fresher.

This play is immersive, meaning there are multiple scenes at once, and theoretically the audience can wander between them. It takes a bit of time but soon the audience feel comfortable following the sound of the most interesting room. A classic problem with immersive theatre is feeling like you’re missing something in another room. I confidently strode into a room, where crucial action had been taking place throughout the show, only to find myself (and several uncomfortable audience members) trapped watching a man rearrange a table. But the play is carefully constructed so you cannot miss vital moments, and missing some of it is part of the fun.

“The changes to the story sometimes bring an original flair, but many feel predictable and some feel completely random”

Nicholas Benjamin’s directing was impressive. The logistical side of things was executed really well, with audience shepherded from space to space and most of the scene transitions flagged fairly naturally. He played the role of Robert Walton, which allowed him, as narrator, to move us around without disturbing the main action. This is a play which is primarily focussed on world building, and an ambitious vision, which it does execute well, especially in terms of the set design, which is evocative.

Unfortunately, the script, devised by Benjamin and the cast, was a bit all over the place. There’s a chaotic mix of improv, quotes from the novel, and original dialogue. The changes to the story sometimes bring an original flair, but many feel predictable and some feel completely random.

An absolute shining element of this piece is Nadia Lamin as Viktor’s Mother/The Creature. Her performance is arresting and disturbing. A moment where she is writhing and contorting across the room is made all the more horrifying by the intimacy of the space. Piers Mackenzie as William Frankenstein (Viktor’s younger brother) is also very strong, consistently using his natural comic timing to bring laughter into the space.

There are also some really beautiful and sinister pieces of physical theatre, created by movement director Chris Evans. These are performed to Nick White’s Victorian style reworkings of pop songs, something which seems to be increasingly popular, perhaps since Bridgerton. This works well for the live songs, which are exciting and energetic, but feels a bit inconsistent when it is recorded, perhaps because so much of the show is condensed into the space, and this suddenly takes us out of it.

The immersive element is well executed, and worth a visit for that alone. The story itself is a bit weaker, but it is an enjoyable experience overall.

Tag Archives: Auriol Reddaway

This is Not a Circus: 360

★★★★★

Jacksons Lane

THIS IS NOT A CIRCUS: 360 at Jacksons Lane

★★★★★

“It is playful and funny and physically impressive”

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

Click here to read all our latest reviews

Frankenstein

★★★

St Peter’s Church Crypt

FRANKENSTEIN at St Peter’s Church Crypt

★★★

“There are also some really beautiful and sinister pieces of physical theatre”

“The changes to the story sometimes bring an original flair, but many feel predictable and some feel completely random”