Far from the hi-tech circus of international arts festivals, Barabbas Theatre's venture into the ring celebrates simplicity. Entering the transformed auditorium of Project's Space Upstairs is like walking into an illustrated children's book. Setting the tone for a performance of unforced charm, designer Sabine Dargent's gorgeous big top is festooned with multi-coloured ribbons arching down to a hand-painted circus ring.
Loosely basing his narrative on Fellini's La Strada, writer and director Raymond Keane adroitly steers his wordless "circus play" along a tightrope between nostalgia and sentimentality. The story of a performing duo, Harle and Gubu - who recruit Anglelina, a young apprentice, to salvage their circus act - incorporates juggling, tumbling, knife-throwing and acrobatics as they initiate her into the tricks and mysteries of the ring. Tina Segner's wide-eyed accomplishments are overseen by a musical master of ceremonies (Trevor Knight), whose white suit and bowler hat with wings attached suggest an otherworldly presence.
While the narrative is sometimes at odds with the set pieces of circus business in the early, unevenly paced, scenes, they gel perfectly in later trapeze sequences. Burgeoning feelings between Angelina (Segner) and Gubu (Colm O'Grady) culminate in an erotically charged aerial pas de deux. As they grapple and twist high above the stage, they are balefully observed by Harle (Ken Fleming), who intervenes with disastrous results. Grieving for her beloved, Angelina is suspended from a red silk rope, furling and unfurling ethereally, while Knight's music enhances the emotional charge. This is spectacle with a heart; a timeless enactment of jealousy and love, that, in the hands of these performers, is allowed to soar.
· Until November 10. Box office: 00 353 1 8819613.
