Multi-award-winning Adelaide-based physical theatre company, Gravity & Other Myths, has been touring the world, winning plaudits for the ingenuity, skill and sheer virtuosity of its productions.
These Canberra performances are the last in its Australian tour before it begins to hectically criss-cross the globe exciting audiences with various of its productions in Korea, United Arab Emirates, USA, Canada, Germany, and the UK.
In Canberra it is presenting The Mirror – a physically and conceptually ambitious program addressing concepts of entertainment through the language of contemporary circus.
The Mirror is centred around the talents of charismatic composer/singer/circus performer, Ekrem Eli Phoenix who enigmatically wanders through the proceedings engrossed in his own image and singing tantalising deconstructions of well-known songs, among them Gershwin’s Summertime and Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, to which the other nine performers in the troupe, constantly dazzle with feats of extraordinary physicality and strength.
The 80-minute performance is divided into sections and presented without an interval or interruption, during which the company explores physical movement that is likely to entertain contemporary audiences.
The first section harkens back to the old-fashioned tableau, during which the performers use an arrangement of black drapes to intrigue the audience by revealing a succession of images of bodies arranged in remarkably unlikely situations.
The use of an LED wall, a large decorative neon construction to border the action, cameras and selfie sticks constantly dazzle and confuse the eye, as bodies are piled upon and around each other to construct surrealistic images.
Gender-blind acrobatics have the women bearing as much weight as the men for manoeuvres in which performers scramble over their colleagues to create human towers often four bodies high. Elsewhere colleagues are tossed around with such reckless abandon that, even though meticulously choreographed, the mesmerised audience is left gasping as to how injury could possibly have been avoided.
Costume designer Renate Henschke has eschewed the glitz and glamour of familiar circus presentations in favour of minimalist, apparently haphazard garments, with each artist dressed individually, mostly in underwear, often transparent, often revealing, but ideal for displaying the magnificent, widely varying physiques of each performer, who unselfconsciously change elements of their costumes in full view of the audience.
With The Mirror, Director Darcy Grant and his associate Jascha Boyce have created a entertaining and gripping evening of world-class acrobatics, presented with flair and imagination and performed with irresistible joie de vivre and skill, that offers a series of surprising and intriguing ways with which to utilise the human body as a medium of entertainment.
The Mirror
Canberra Theatre – Canberra Theatre Centre, Civic Square, Canberra
Performance: Thursday 10 April 2025
Season: 10 – 12 April 2025
Bookings: www.canberratheatrecentre.com.au
For more information, visit: www.gravityandothermyths.com for details.
Images: Gravity & Other Myths presents The Mirror – photo by Andy Phillipson | Ekrem Eli Phoenix and Artists of Gravity & Other Myths in The Mirror – photo by Daniel Boud
Review: Bill Stephens OAM