Although Fringe season abounds with bounding and astounding acrobats from almost every continent, as well as gravity defying home-grown talent that have put in their 10,000 hours, it would be a mistake to bypass the new show from SA Circus Centre’s Youth Troupe.
'BYPASS' is a family and budget-friendly opportunity to see the stars of tomorrow; many of whom already possess skills and qualities of the stars of today.
Since 1985, the South Australian Circus Centre has taught juniors to juggle, teens to tumble and adults to aerial. If they constructed a human pyramid out of all their alumni, they’d probably block a flight path. Like all artistic disciplines, circus is an ecosystem: without the educators and the learning centres, the supportive parents, and the audiences that go see the emerging as well as the established, the big shows in the big tops don’t exist.
Under the tutelage of Artist Development Co-Ordinator Marina Gellman, the fresh-faced youth troupe make a stage adorned with newspapers, milk crates, and the usual circus apparatuses, into their playgrounds. 'BYPASS' is loosely structured as an exploration of the relative merits of conformity versus individuality: human pyramids versus solo aerials. Each performer is given an opportunity to show off their individual party trick; some of the aerial, trapeze and teeterboard sections, and a remarkable bow-and-arrow trick are as daring as you’ll see anywhere.
While the connective tissue uniting the show isn’t as seamless as the bigger budget enterprises, the wow factor is equivalent: wow, look how young they are, and they just did that! There are also some innovative lighting choices: a segment performed in silhouette is a visual highlight. As a production born just up the road in Bowden, and performed by young people just like their kids, 'BYPASS' could be inspirational for those with young ones that just have too much energy to sit behind a desk all day. There’s no need to run away to the circus – it’s just a 20-minute drive.
There are many journeys you can take this Fringe, but a detour to 'BYPASS' is well worth the ride.
