“They
Fly Through the Air with the Greatest of Ease”
There was once a time when saying “the circus is back
in town!” was cause for universal celebration, as it normally happened only once
or twice a year. While that may still be true in smaller towns, big cities nowadays
normally host a variety of circus shows, large and small, many of those
visiting New York showing up at the New Victory Theatre.
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| Battulga Battogtokh. All photos: Maike Schulz. |
As circuses go, this is a small-scale one featuring a
dozen performers in a traditional format almost entirely wordless. The smooth direction is by Chris Lashua, the
choreography by co-director Aloysia Gavre, and the lively (prerecorded) score
by Michael Picton, with a familiar oldy or two (like “Those Daring Young Men on the
Flying Trapeze”) thrown in.
Of course, in the tradition of the biggest of today’s
big-top spectacles, Cirque du Soleil, there’s a theme of sorts (Steven Ragatz
is the credited “writer”), or at least a through-line that binds it all
together. This is the presence of an amiable clown named Justin Therrien, whose
pointy hat and short pants suggest an adult Pinocchio. Wandering by a fence with
circus posters, his curiosity is aroused. Soon, he’s trying to join the show.
Therrien is a terrific mime, doing marvelous,
Chaplinesque things, like his bit with a suitcase that refuses to budge, or a gold
sheet that takes on a life of its own. He can also gulp down a sword or create
a micro-drama with no more than a feather. At one point, he gives the acrobats,
aerialists, and strongman who occupy most of the performance a chance to rest by
bringing an audience member on stage to join him in some amusing mimic business;
the young dad selected when I attended proved a perfect comic foil.
But the show’s pulsing heart, naturally, resides in the
remarkable acrobatics allowing the muscular cast to fly through the air with
the greatest of ease, or the built-like-a-Mack-truck strongman to demonstrate
not only superhuman feats of strength but do some fancy flips of his own. The
latter’s name is Battulga Battogtokh, he comes from Mongolia, and he’s sturdy
enough to place a huge pole across the back of his neck, and then, bent over,
spin it around and around with two young ladies installed in the swing-like
seats dangling from its ends. He also must have jaws of steel because he’s able
to clamp his teeth around a bit attached to a double steel chain and give those
ladies, holding on to the chain’s other ends, another dizzying ride for their
money. And then there are those golden bowling balls . . .
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| Tatiana Vasilenko. |
42 FT makes no pretense
it’s anything but a circus, albeit one with a decidedly retro, old-fashioned
aura, as witness Caroline Rogers’s artfully dated costumes, redolent of the 20s
and 30s, like those in HBO’s “Carnivale.” Once that fence slides off, we’re in
a traditional circus tent (designed by Sean Riley, and lit by Anthony Powers
and Joe D’Emilio). The floor is occupied by a metal ring—its standard diameter of
42 feet gives the show its name—capable of being rotated to accommodate whatever
mechanical contraptions need to be installed within it. Tying one side of the
ring to the other is a large metal arch, which makes technical contributions to the
action.
The several "mechanical marvels" include a revolving
ladder and a Russian swing.
The former is manipulated so that multiple performers can do gymnastic feats on
it as it rotates up or down. The latter is used so that two or more performers standing
on it can rock it back and forth to create enough centrifugal force to send someone
flying nearly to the top of the high proscenium, doing one or more flips, and landing
on a thick mattress, held slightly off the floor to soften the impact when their
flying partner makes his or her rapid descent.
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| The revolving ladder. |
If you’ve gone to enough circus shows, visited Las
Vegas, or watch “America’s Got Talent,” you won’t see much here you haven’t
seen before. These include a beautifully executed trapeze act starring Nikki
Unwin and Elijah Newton, a terrific juggling routine with rubber balls done on
a mechanical horse by Tatiana Vasilenko, a slack-wire number by Esther De
Monteflores, a “lion tamer” piece (sans lion) in which Austin Bradley leaps
about while snapping (Crack! Crack!) a bullwhip, and a variety of other
familiar yet nonetheless awesome sets featuring daredevils Brysen Bishop, Brooke
Neilson, Michael Rubino, and Taylor Stevens.
The “mechanical marvels” announced in the subtitle of 42
FT may not quite qualify as a “menagerie,” but its human marvels, flying,
flipping, and flexing with impeccable flair, will flutter your heart,
whether you’re under five or over fifty.
New
Victory Theatre
209
W. 42nd St., NYC
Through
January 5