A Simple Space is a contemporary circus show created by Australian company Gravity & Other Myths. Set in a black box at The Underbelly Theatre on the Southbank, this space provides the perfect back drop.
Running onto stage in neutral clothes, the company of eight begin a ‘trust’ exercise. Each shouts “I’m falling”, as the other runs to catch them, and the flinging and acrobatics begins. What makes this show stand out from other circus shows, is the little games they play on each other, to try and get one up or catch them out. The boys play a speed game with a skipping rope, with the loser having to remove an item of clothing. The girls play a challenge where they pick an unwilling victim from the audience, and carry them like a baby- the last one standing wins!
The piece flows well, with different tricks and fun improvisation moments. The use of music, designed by Elliot Zoerner and played by Alex Flood– really helped keep the pace and held tension in some extremely lip biting moments. Flood has his own moment to shine, where he uses his own body as percussion in a solo drumming moment which is also met with applause.
Their skills are many, with headstands, balancing, jumping and tricks galore. A stand out performance comes from Annalise Moore, who uses her specialty of hand to hand balancing and as she literally walks over everyone else. As a company, they interact with both each other and the audience with ease, the playfulness and competition element makes for a really current form of circus.
A clever way to include the audience comes with the ending, where we are invited to throw coloured balls onto the stage, whilst they have a balancing competition. The rainbow of colours on the dark stage is really pleasing to look at, and who doesn’t love a bit of audience participation?
A Simple Space, is a must see circus show, not only because the company are extremely talented, but their personalities and real sense of humour shine and make for an incredibly fun hour of play.
Victoria Margaret
Victoria Margaret is a northern girl lost in London. She is a huge fan of dogs, cups of tea, cake and gravy – not necessarily all at same time. A lover of all things theatre and film; she’s having a ball reviewing for Upper Circle Theatre.
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