Originally published on A Younger Theatre
Awarded 3 stars
In Arc, a square construction made of steel scaffolding is suspended above the stage. Three performers are lying asleep on it. They awake, scared and dazed at their surroundings like abandoned children. Fear soon turns into mischief as they balance and swing on their industrial jungle gym. Mischief turns into something more as the boy and girl notice each other, to the chagrin of the remaining girl. She becomes malicious, snapping the restraints that hold the scaffolding so that it spins and pivots around its axis. The performers have to scramble to hold on and soon realise that too much weight on one edge will cause the whole thing to rotate, like a life or death physics lesson. Once they get to grips with counterbalancing the structure, they relax and learn to manipulate the scene with precision and synchronicity. The whole piece is a story, interspersed with contemporary acrobatics that are complemented with serene background music. The performers have absolute trust in each other and are in tune with their movements – they have to be for the sequence to work.
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