August 11, 2013
Apocalyptic Circus’s Push Me, Pull You! is a beautiful hour of visual storytelling exploring the relationship between the on-stage performer and the (usually) off-stage technician. With hardly any words, through music and movement, we see how the skills of each half of this partnership are wholly dependent on the other’s for the gorgeous result, with the technician enjoying a rare equal share in the limelight.
The staging is simple in appearance and completely mind-blowing in complexity. A stage-wide slackrope (the opposite of a tightrope) on adjustable a-frames stands in front of a tech-station at the back which controls lighting, sound and the line itself. Linn Brodén’s childlike inquisitiveness as the performer makes it all look like the coolest bit of equipment for the most talented kid in the playground: she climbs, walks and spins effortlessly on the rope with measured control and purpose, while puppet master Tom Richmond manipulates her surroundings, enabling her act.
Tealight-in-a-jam-jar-style lighting suspended on sports spidercam-like controls are massively atmospheric as they float around the stage at the technician’s will. Fireflies dancing above Brodén in her single rope hammock to dreamy, plinky music that entrances the viewer, soon give way to bouncy gypsy folk, heavy metal and Shakira, with easy transitions and entertaining results.Some laugh-out-loud moments showed that physical comedy need not be slapstick or crude, and Richmond’s Kate Winslet impression absolutely brought the house down.
In a piece where every input is so integrated and vital, it would be wrong to call out the direction, choreography, musical composition, technical execution or performance in particular. Kajsa Bohlins et al’s production is utterly charming and likeable, with sweetness, comedy and heart-in-mouth moments, all in equal measure. You get the distinct impression that they have pushed themselves and their apparatus to the limits of their abilities, and the results are mesmerising.