Review-Smashed-Hong Kong Arts Festival
20-3-15
By: Olivia Rosenman
What do you get when you put nine jugglers, 80 apples and a kitchen cupboard full of crockery on a stage? Smashed! The program’s synopsis promised to challenge my perception of contemporary juggling but to be honest, I’m not sure I had one. What the show did provide was an hour of unexpected, unabated entertainment. A sign on the door warned that the show contained ‘loud smashing’ and was not suitable for children under the age of eight.
The Gandini juggling troupe was formed in 1992 by a juggler, Sean Gandini, and a rhythmic gymnast, Kati Ylä-Hokkala. The universal appeal of their exciting, scintillating shows is demonstrated in the fact that they have performed in more than 40 countries at festivals like the Adelaide Fringe, Edinburgh, and the Buenos Aires International Circus Festival. Smashed was originally performed at the National Theatre’s Watch This Space festival in 2010.
Nine jugglers - two women and seven men dressed in suits, vests and cardigans – maintained a comic and detached demeanour throughout the duration of the show. Two or three slapstick sexual innuendos and a couple of dark moments were weaved into a non-stop flux of flailing limbs, fruit and fine china. The stage was lit from below, which made the jugglers’ projectiles look like they were floating on clouds of light as they flew through the air. To an eclectic soundtrack including Little Jack Little, Bach and Louis Armstrong , the performers created a show that was part circus, part dance show, part mime, all fun. The coordination and cooperation was impressive and mesmerising. As was their acceptance, and playfulness, with what they describe as the ultimate failure of juggling – the drop.
In typical Hong Kong style, the theatre was air-conditioned to arctic temperatures but the Cultural Centre’s Studio was a fine venue, a space any larger would have diluted the intimate, engaging nature of the show.
Smashed is playing through March 22nd. For more information, click here.
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