Cirque du Soleil are Canada’s most famous circus export, but it’s Les 7 Doigts de la Main’s show Traces that remains most influential for many contemporary circus-makers more than a decade after it was created. While many have tried to replicate the goofy charm of that show, which depicted a bunch of mates hanging out together, few have managed to create the emotional impact of a piece which in its initial incarnation was underpinned by a wistful sense of how little we leave behind.
Flip FabriQue’s likable, highly skilled piece comes wrapped in the concept of six friends reuniting 10 years after they shared a cottage together, but then does absolutely nothing with the scenario. Having the rest of the cast looking at a photo album while someone performs an aerial straps act overhead doesn’t magically make the turn more meaningful. There are five men and a single woman on stage and the latter is reduced to playing the fool, an honorary man and a female stereotype. Such a setup is a reminder that gender imbalance and female representation remains a seriously underaddressed issue in circus.
The acts, from the diabolo to the trampoline finale, deliver 75 minutes of pleasure, even if the cartoonish energy is overegged. But while the performers scrawl their names graffiti-like on the cottage walls, they lack personality, and the show fails in any way to explore the relationships which supposedly bind these friends together.
- At the Udderbelly, Southbank, London, until 9 July. Box office: 0844 545 8252.
