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Question de Directions

Published Monday 25 June 2007 at 10:35 by Liz Arratoon

At first you wonder why the ring is so high. Then you realise that all the equipment - including a trampoline - plus Collectif AOC’s artists are concealed beneath it. The stage is peppered with trapdoors, a table that is raised and lowered and a sort of booster platform that occasionally shoots people into the air. It also has a low wire, dragged into place by a dame in a fur coat, and a pole.

The action, which is as much about contemporary dance as circus, is set to an unrelenting noisescape that does nothing to enhance it. The French troupe is mostly dressed in street clothes; jeans, sweats, jumpers, and some have wigs. One is padded to become a real fatty. Many sport beards, never a good look at the circus, and some wear glasses. This all gives it the feel of a practice session.

Question de Direction opens the first Circus Front season. It was created in the round, making the Roundhouse its perfect home, but with so many things happening at once, it has turned into a soupy mix of a show.

But there is real talent here; the lunge-free duo on swinging trapeze stand out, plus a great interlude of acrobatics on a bench, some fun trampolining, and precisely choreographed club juggling. But the rest, though wildly applauded, is not engaging. You get a mere 75 minutes for your 20 quid and they really drag. The blame lies with the soundtrack and the dull ‘costumes’ because the artists themselves are full of beans.

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