Casus’ Restrung

The Melba Spiegeltent on Johnson Street is beautifully smoky as singer and song-writer Helen Clark enters the stage, her husky voice setting the scene of darkness and enchantment, a carton of eggs fragile in her hand. Her fellow musicians Ben Ely and Suzanne Simpson join with a sombre twang of a violin and guitar.

But this is not your typical music gig, but a combined musical and incredibly unique circus performance on fragility and strength. Casus’ Restrung is a reincarnation of their award-winning and internationally recognised show Knee Deep and is currently captivating audiences at the Melbourne Fringe Festival.

As the smoke transcends, four circus performers take the stage. Karli Retallack, Lachlan Macaulay, Natano Fa’anana and Jesse Scott are cloaked in gold light as they show you the strength of the human body in a confronting series of impressive acrobatics. Walk on eggshells? Too easy. Add some wine bottles and a coffee table? No problem. Can another person climb another person? Add two more people to the climb and now that’s a challenge.

It’s a blink and you’ll miss it trick, turn and twirl that will make you laugh uncomfortable, hold your breath or as one audience member yelled out, “Don’t do it!”

And while there is darkness in pushing the boundaries, there is a lightness too – Retallack performs a humorous hula hoop act, contorting her body through a tiny hoop with will, grit and a giggle. She is then joined by male acrobatics shaking their hips with hoops happily subverting the idea that hula hoops are a “female thing”.

There is an extraordinary four person group trapeze that is concluded by Scott performing a head balance on the trapeze. Amazing silk twirls by Fa’anana are taken at dizzying heights to the thrum and hum of the band. Macaulay twists and swings on straps hardly breaking a sweat, but audience members will sweat for him as he holds his body upright.

It’s impressive and beautiful to watch, but it is the interaction between the performers, the trust they have for one another as they fling their bodies into flight to be caught that is so mesmerising. As the final group ensemble tumbles together, the eggs remain unbroken, their bodies and minds stronger than before.

Perhaps we are all more capable than we believe?

Image courtesy of Hamish McCormick Carnival Cinema