Review - SHIFT at Shoreditch Town Hall

Devised by Melissa Ellberger, Ella Robson Guilfoyle and Barely Methodical Troupe, SHIFT is an ambitious production that seeks to go beyond circus acrobatics, to touch at the wings of theatre. Performed at Shoreditch Town Hall, the space is suitably cavernous for a show where the audience is frequently looking up into the rafters. But it is intimate enough that we can still hear the performers' every breath and step; a reminder of their humanity as they fly ethereally through the air.

The production is minimal, and the main props are the blue rubber bands the performers manipulate to trap, tease and support each other. In one impressive trick, the band is spun into the air like a hoop for a performer to dive through, untouching, in mid-air. Beren D'Amico delivers a particularly impressive solo, dancing with weightless skill and liquid fluidity, his body spinning horizontally through the air. Esmeralda Nikolajeff performs some incredible tumbles with the support of Louis Gift. But the highlight of the show must be the moving sequence performed on the Cyr wheel by the rather brilliantly named Charlie Wheeler.

The choreography of SHIFT has the feel of contemporary dance rather than of an acrobatic circus act; more contemplative with fewer moments of high-intensity tricks. The show opens in silence, the four acrobats advancing slowly across the stage, looking out into the distance at something unknown, and then forming higher and higher human towers to try to see what is out there. Occasional exclamations pierce the silence and reverberate around the hall.

It is a slow build, and the choreography takes a while to get going, but there is the sense that the performers are building up to something explosive. This gradual intensification has impact in this first scene, feeding off the audience's intrigue.

However, the pace never truly establishes itself, the slow moments dragging and the rhythm of the show building to a climax that never comes. The most captivating moments of the show are undoubtedly the more pacy sequences of intricate choreography, where the performers fly across one another's path or break their fall at the last moment, their bodies unfolding like origami around each other.

There is a very loose narrative that sees the acrobats attempt to escape from the mysterious and unsettling environment in which they find themselves, but it is not obvious enough to hold our attention. The intended effect of the infrequent moments of dialogue is clear, but rather than tying together the different movements of the piece, it feels like an afterthought.

These excellent acrobats are not trained actors, and seem far more at ease standing on their heads or balancing on one another's shoulders than playing out a dramatic scene. The attempts to inject comedy into the sparse script with some terrible puns falls flat, at odds with the dramatic intensity of the production, and these moments stand out as strange punctuation marks in an otherwise fluid production.

What cannot be contested, however, is the innovation of this production, which pushes the boundaries of dramatic form and human strength.

SHIFT is at Shoreditch Town Hall until 18th May. 

_{Photo credit: JMA Photography}