The Stage

Traces

Published Monday 11 October 2010 at 11:02 by Liz Arratoon

Montreal’s 7 Fingers have an enviable reputation for exceptional artists and brilliant circus theatre set to edgy, eclectic music. But to recreate the electrifying Traces with a second cast was always going to be difficult. With a script drawn from real-life details about its young performers, could it still explode with energy and sheer joy, while remaining as funny and poignant?

Genevieve Morin in Traces at The Peacock Theatre Photo: Francis Loney

The opening minutes of this new version quickly answer that question with a breathtaking tumbling/acrobatic sequence that sets nerves tingling. Staying on the urban set almost constantly, there is thrilling group work on Chinese poles and teeterboard - Antoine Carabinier Lepine and Jonathan Casaubon flying like Olympic gymnasts - and street skills with basketball and skateboards, plus a ballet of mannerisms. But it is their Chinese hoop diving that really sets the audience alight. Even this is eclipsed, though, by Carabinier Lepine’s flamboyant work on a spinning Cyr wheel and Genevieve Morin and Antoine Auger’s mesmerising love/hate hand-to-hand encounter, which bring gasps of disbelief and delight.

Morin also goes solo with armchair acrobatics, and a dazzling aerial loop number, her red dress forming exotic flower petals as she revolves. And Philip Rosenberg, who had a run with the first cast, reprises his unique hand-balancing number with astounding strength and control on a structure of mannequin parts.

Remakes are rarely a patch on the originals, but directors Shana Carroll and Gypsy Snider have pulled off a master stroke to deliver another stunning coup de foudre. Doubtless, a third version, about to tour the US, will be just as special.