Air Play

Air Play flies well across Sydney Festival’s long tradition of staging magical visual theatre, with lots of flying fabric, mime and clowning. James Thieree’s shows, for example, were standouts.

Here so-called acrobuffos, American husband and wife team, Seth Bloom and Christina Gelsone, begin like Wiggles, one yellow-costumed, one red, with wide-eyed naivete and the simple act of loosing a balloon into the audience. And the kids loved it.

With air-blowers they fly huge sheets of colourful fabrics over our heads, then graduate upstage to a circle of fans which suspends balloons, big, small and ginormous, right up into the flies.   Throw in stardust and it’s a spell-bounding galaxy.

Umbrellas, more long rolls of bright fabric and a snowstorm of small balls also take to the sky, the visuals made more awesome by Bloom and Gelsone’s evocative soundtrack of music snippets across cultures, centuries and genres.

And their personalities, as competitive, sometimes sulky, siblings, add vital humanity to the showmanship – and one definitely aimed at a youngsters. Their masterful act however of being swallowed inside the giant balloons, with only their heads atop, aghast at their new form, had us older kids in hysterics. 

Collaborators included kinetic sculptor Daniel Wurtzel and West Hyler as director.  Almost an hour was enough, Airplay staggered at first as a touch lame and juvenile but flew to real delights. 

Martin Portus

Photographer" Yaya Stempler