Circo Teatro Udi Grudi, O Cano

Review in Issue 12-3 | Autumn 2000

Before receiving my first guitar at the age of eight, I used to construct makeshift versions from shoeboxes and elastic bands. The desire to make music from everyday objects is one that every child can relate to and is the focus of this show by the Brazilian clown trio Circo Teatro Udi Grudi.

Found objects of all descriptions are collected together to form an orchestra. Broken bits of ceramic tile become a xylophone; an inflated plastic bag makes a sound like a snare drum; a broomstick and some string create a makeshift double-bass. If you can hit it to make a noise, fill it with water to alter its pitch, or strum on it, you can bet this inventive trio will have dragged it onto the stage. They've certainly cleared the local builders' merchant of drainpipes, as plastic tubes of differing lengths are blown into like didgeridoos or played on in sequence like an organ. Delightfully, the company don't just bang, blow into and twang these collected bits of junk to create a din; they expertly tease jazz riffs, folk tunes and classical pieces from them. So it's rather like a zany music lesson taught by three crazy-looking teachers – all of whom are having enormous amounts of fun.

And it doesn't stop there. Amidst all the music-making, Udi Grudi find time to throw some more traditional circus tricks into the mix, so there's juggling, acrobatics, and even a bit of fire swinging. It's the sort of show that kids will love and that will appeal to the inner child inside each and every one of us.

Artforms
Presenting Artists
Presenting Festival
Presenting Venue
Date Seen
  1. Aug 2000

This article in the magazine

Issue 12-3
p. 23