CIRQUE ELOIZE’S MAGIC BRIMS WITH HUMANITY
The Boston Globe, March 19, 2007Just as another character rushes in to reassure her, it begins raining boots - hard, heavy boots that hit the ground with major thunks. It’s theatrical, a little dangerous, and very funny, a brief absurdist ignette typical of the delightful Montrealbased Cirque Eloize.
Yes, this is contemporary circus, no elephants or trained dogs or clowns with big red noses. But unlike the high-tech glitz and splendor of the king of the genre, Cirque du Soleil, this is a charmingly intimate affair with an Eastern European flavor, and the 11 performers seem less like spit-and-polish entertainers than a tightknit family welcoming us into their world.
In ‘‘Rain,’’ receiving its Boston premiere at the Cutler Majestic Theatre this week, presented by CRASHarts and Bank of America Celebrity Series, the performers not only tumble and fly through the air, they talk to us and sing songs. Jugglers tell stories, acrobats play saxophones and accordions, strong men make much of their ineptitude, and a contortionist gets stuffed into a suitcase with great reluctance - and only after her colleagues subject her to a series of hair-raising preparatory stretches. What makes it so effective is that it is so achingly human. As we laugh at their antics and gasp at their tricks, we fall in love with them as people.
To be sure, ‘‘Rain’’ offers substantial circus arts — the trapeze, teeterboard, Russian bar, and Spanish web. But it’s the little playful and poignant twists that give the show its special appeal. Woven into the fabric of eye-popping tumbling passes are brief liaisons.
Characters emerge and evolve; they flirt, bicker, instruct, support, laugh, and cry. And everywhere there are dreamlike, Fellini-esque touches. A man lumbers onstage, carefully balancing a piano on his shoulder as a woman in the background jumps and flips on a bungee cord, gleefully giggling.
Lumpy ‘‘cloud’’ balloons periodically float by. For the most part, ‘‘Rain’’ has a charming offhand quality. In the opening monologue, the understated Stephane Gentilini tries to tell a little tale about childhood memories, but one woman keeps correcting his heavily accented pronunciation and grammar, and another keeps fussing over his hair and collar. His hand-to-hand suitcase routine is priceless, precisely because it is so simple and non-virtuosic, yet he is so eager to share it with us.
Jean-Philippe Cuerrier offers the flashiest work, with spectacular flips, spins, and scissors off the teeterboard, but the most breathtaking (and funny) moment comes when he soars off in the wrong direction, sailing into the wings. Jacek Wyskup and Bartolomiej Pankau’s balancing routine is an extraordinary display of strength and control, all in slow motion, including a dramatic wipe of the brow. Other standouts include the muscular contortionist Nadine Louis and Lexington raised Jonas Woolverton with Krin Maren Haglund on the Cyr wheel. And Haglund’s character gives the show its most heartrending moment - I won’t spoil it here.
When water finally appears in the title event, it comes as a wonderful surprise, turning the entire stage into a shallow pool. The rousing splash-fest finale, which unleashes the child in both performers and viewers, is as sweetly touching as it is exuberant.