Circa Peepshow (Club Remix) is a thrilling and continually pulsing adrenaline rush of acrobatic circus street theatre. Olympic athlete level physicality and subdued eroticism set to the rhythms of DJ trance music.
The company had its origins in the mid-Eighties in Brisbane, Australia, as the Rock’n’Roll Circus. Not to be confused with the Rolling Stones project from 1968 which did not officially surface until the Eighties, but I imagine it provided the inspirational spark.
It transformed into the Circa Ensemble at the turn of the century under director Yaron Lifschitz. They continued to party like it’s 1999, but it expanded out into bigger commercial, theatrical and artistic productions with diverse and avant-garde musical palettes.
Circa Peepshow hit the stages in 2018, and tonight is the world premiere of the Club Remix version. Lipschitz is the creator and director of both.
As the audience enter the iconic Civic Auditorium, DJ Ori Lichtik is on stage to supervise the mama heartbeat throbs. Neon lettering sets the stage for a garish nightclub.
The show begins and immediately the energy level picks up as we hear minimalist world music in drone and trance patterns. Like Brian Eno exploring ambient atmospherics with Eastern rhythms, and collaborator David Byrne doing a similar job on the Catherine Wheel soundtrack, from the celebrated Twyla Tharp Dance Company production.
Seven acrobats begin the performance, becoming eight when they pull the last one from the audience midway through the show.
The performance starts in a huddle as a choreographed rugby scrum, a portent of the physical nature of what follows.
It is exhilarating and breathtaking to watch the set-pieces of players being tossed and spun through the air. A triple stack of bodies gets heartbeats racing.
The work on the aerial silks is smooth and fluid, one of the highlights of the show.
The set-pieces may be disjointed and lack the synchronicity of a more robust narrative, which is a criticism I heard from various people. But this does fit in with the nature of a peepshow. Which is broken and episodic by nature and meant to titillate.
The striptease features associate director Billie Wilson-Coffey. She wears flesh-coloured underwear, and gloved hands play around the breasts. Admittedly it is more chaste than erotic.
The red stiletto heels walking over the male body is more sensual.
Naked physical strength is on display with the balancing on one hand while the performer becomes a contortionist.
The avant-garde music at times segues seamlessly into traditional cabaret Pop with crooned vocals and does provide the fabric of a narrative.
The surreal tapestry of human bodies does suggest the ancient art forms you will find in the erotic temples of the East, as in Khajuraho. A Karma Sutra of form and dance.
There is plenty to thrill and get the nerves on edge as danger is never far away. It does lack a little polish, and form can waver at the extremes of physicality, but Circa Peepshow is a great circus extravaganza, nonetheless.
Circa Peepshow (Club Remix) runs through 1 July at Auckland’s civic Theatre. Tickets are available HERE.
Rev Orange Peel
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Photo credit: Jinki Cambronero
