Papillon

I first had the honour of reviewing National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) students Idris Stanton and Joshua Phillips when they were performing in NICA’s 2009 Graduates Circus Showcase. At the time, I wrote that their ‘Circus Firemen’ routine was “wonderfully entertaining, even if their vocal dialogue, as opposed to their shared physical vocabulary, seems to not yet be adequately incorporated into their routine.”

It was, therefore, great to have the opportunity to see them working together again – only this time as graduates from the celebrated institute and out in the real world.

Melbourne’s paranoid Docklands precinct turned out to be an appropriate location for an indefatigably cheerful and sexy circus vaudeville. Negotiating the sprawling mess of darkened shops, restaurants and construction zones on the night that the US government shut down for the foreseeable future, reminded me instantly of the opening of Peter Jackson’s King Kong. Naomi Watts’s Ann Darrow, who is struggling to make a living in a vaudeville troupe, suddenly finds herself out of work when the theatre they are performing in is unceremoniously closed down. And in the shadow of Melbourne’s troubled (to put it politely) Melbourne Star Ferris Wheel, the overwhelming sense of Kong-inspired doom was complete.

Finally arriving at the packed, glowing Wonderland Spiegeltent, was like discovering some kind of magical oasis – appearing as it did, beautifully illuminated, from behind a maze of construction hoardings. Inside, Idris Stanton (as MC), was in complete control, with cheeky good humour and a fine command of the capacity audience. It was precisely what we needed, and for the next hour there was much laughter, some moments of delightful pathos, music and acrobatic adventurousness. Both Stanton’s balancing act involving eggs and wine glasses and, later, a six-plate spinning routine were fantastic, winning rapturous applause from the audience.

Vincent van Berkel’s hand balancing routine (dressed in overalls that were later removed much to the delight of, well, practically everyone in the audience), was an undeniably sexy and accomplished highlight – a kind of perfect amalgam of Poor Circus and Magic Mike.

Joshua Phillips (as the now out-of work Lion Tamer, a perfect acknowledgement of the extent that Circus has evolved over the years), still makes scampering up and down a free-standing ladder look a good deal easier than I imagine it is, and his balancing on top of it rightfully won gasps of astonishment and applause.

Elena Kirschbaum and Amy Nightingale-Olsen’s acrobatic pas des deux was exceptional. Kirschbaum’s ‘glass walk’ across a stage covered with broken bottles was a terrifyingly good trick, concluded with a cheeky, knowing grin and a jump onto the broken glass that had the audience gasping in shock (and shared, if vicarious, pain).

Minni Andrews revealed a beautiful singing voice, even if her phrasing was short and restrained (possibly nerves or the punishing inflexibility of a backing tape), and her character needs development to more effectively take her place within a circus ensemble. Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Send in the Clowns’ was perhaps an obvious choice (particularly when performed in the company of Stanton’s divinely melancholic, red-nosed Clown), and like her fine rendition of the much-performed ‘Fever’, only wants for a personal stamp of possibly torch-song-inspired character and authority.

The finale, featuring van Berkel and Phillips’ spectacular tumbling, spinning, springboard-based acrobatics, ensured we left entirely satisfied with the level of resourcefulness, talent and skill – the tools of the trade for fabulous young, independent, self-produced ensembles like this one.

Geoffrey Williams