Legs on the Wall, Under the Influence

Review in Issue 10-3 | Autumn 1998

With Australian companies like Legs on the Wall and Desoxy invading our shores, we had better start honing our skills and expanding our imaginations if we hope to be anywhere near as skilled at integrating acrobats, dance, aerial and circus skills into performance. This show is a delight; from the fun and open generosity of the performers, to the great physical skills displayed powerfully and without fuss.

The performers are limbering up as the audience enter. Rather than saying ‘look at us, aren't we clever!’, like so many circus performers showing-off their skills, the company invite the audience into their world. The show is a high-octane exploration of the compulsions that draw people together and drive them apart; a study in movement of how relationships can switch quickly from 'happily ever after’ to suffocating traps. These topics are handled with humorous honesty in a piece which is at once witty and poignant.

The set is a series of movable corrugated fences with a platform which falls from the roof to serve as bed, table and swing. Legs on the Wall leave no stone unturned in their physical exploration of the space. The text is witty and clever. There is a marvellous use of complex spoonerisms during one comic sequence. The company both provoke and parody the world, and each other. This is a powerful, funny and spectacular piece of theatre.

Artforms
Presenting Artists
Presenting Festival
Presenting Venue
Date Seen
  1. Aug 1998

This article in the magazine

Issue 10-3
p. 22