For all their amazing talents it’s great to see Circa are only human

In their latest hilarious and wildly entertaining show, Brisbane’s own acrobatic maestros Circa prove they are just like the rest of us in one crucial respect. Make sure you catch them at home while you can, writes Phil Brown.

Strength and vulnerability is on show in Humans by Circa.

They can soar above the stage and exhibit feats of strength that make us gasp but can Circa’s acrobats lick their elbows?

It appears they can’t which makes them, in that sense at least, just like us.

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Mind you they give it a red hot go in their show Humans and that sketch - I think I’ll call it a sketch because it was so comedic - had us all laughing and thinking about how we were going to try it as soon as we got home.

This was all performed to the tune of The Impossible Dream by Andy Williams.

Circa’s acrobats in action in Humans.

I thought it was the Jack Jones version at first until Circa’s artistic director Yaron Lifschitz set me straight afterwards. I love Andy Williams.

My parents used to have some of his albums and along with Pat Boone he is one of the most clean cut singers of all time.

I love Lifschitz’s musical choices and there’s always a special treat embedded in his soundtracks and for me that was it (the song is from the musical Man of La Mancha you may recall) as his hapless cast tried to lick their elbows.

Why? I guess you could ask why did Don Quixote tilt at windmills or why did Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climb Everest?

Brisbane’s own Circa are in a class of their own.

The humour in Humans, a Circa show that has been seen around the world, is one of the reasons I loved this show.

It’s one that has been evolving over the years and it is Circa at their best with no sets or overt theatrical elements - just acrobats interacting in sometimes beautiful, sometimes absurd scenarios, verging between strength and vulnerability.

This is what it means to be human and this is a show for all of us about all of us. We are humans, after all, some more so than others.

Humans not only features spectacular feats of human ability, but humour, too.

Okay maybe you have some Neanderthal DNA in our chain but never mind, you’re still essentially human.

Remember John Merrick’s plaintive cry in The Elephant Man when Merrick, played by John Hurt (quite brilliantly) cries out … “I am not an animal! I am a human being!”

Well I kind of wanted to shout that out in the Playhouse at QPAC during Humans but luckily my inner monologue remained internal.

Humans debuted three years ago at the Sydney Festival and has toured to Britain, Belgium, Italy, France, Hungary, Romania, the US and beyond and I believe it is going back to the Sydney Festival early next year.

Yaron Lifschitz directing a Circa rehearsal at the Judith Wright Centre, Fortitude Valley. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

Because Circa has been unable to travel overseas in 2020 we’ve had them at home and that has been wonderful because normally we have to wait out turn.

I’ve seen more Circa this year than ever before and they starred at Brisbane Festival with Leviathan and now we have Humans and before Christmas a reboot of their charming family show Carnival of the Animals.

What they do is sometimes hard to explain but it’s a mixture of circus, sideshow, performance art, theatre and cabaret at times.

Circa acrobats in action in Humans.

It’s always entertaining and each show is completely different and I’m not quite sure how they manage it but suffice to say Yaron Lifschitz, the artistic director and driving creative force is pretty well a genius as far as I’m concerned. And I’ve never seen a bad Circa show I might add.

Now if you’ll excuse me I have to try licking my elbow again.

Humans is on at the Playhouse, QPAC until Sunday November 28 and Carnival of The Animals is on in the Playhouse from December 16 to 20. Visit qpac.com.au