“Trust in what you love, continue to do it, and it will take you where you need to go.” – Natalie Goldberg.

Natalie Goldberg is a globally renowned author, painter and teacher who wrote the best-selling and influential book Writing Down To The Bones that sold over two million copies. She applies the lessons of Zen Buddhism to her writing and her life from her many years as a practitioner of the principles and philosophies; subsequently she has enhanced the lives of countless people throughout the world.

It is possible that Adelaide-based circus company Gravity & Other Myths may not utilise any of the teachings involved with Zen Buddhism in their captivating production entitled The Mirror. There is a distinct likelihood that Natalie Goldberg may not even be well-known to the performers, producers, directors, managers or co-founders of this inspiring artistic collective.

Sincerely, these elements have minimal effect on their remarkable exhibition. Unquestionably though, this 75-minute production of boundary-pushing circus acrobatics and theatrical musical comedy comes down to the five initial words of Ms. Goldberg’s quote above: “Trust in what you love.”

The smiles on each performer’s face during every death-defying stunt broadcasted immeasurable love for their artistic endeavours. Their hand-to-hand connections, focused gazes and gleeful wit with one another illustrated their devout trust to their captivating circus family.

It took each performer where they needed to go, and every attendee present at The Octagon venue was beyond elated to be a part of this amazing adventure. 

A solitary boombox on the stage was the initial centrepiece of the showcase and as the much-adored track ¿Quién será? (better known as Sway performed by Dean Martin) radiated from the speakers, musician/singer Ekrem Eli Phoenix graced the venue with his comic appearance and angelic croon (as he would many times throughout the production) and began toying with the channels on the radio. Out of nowhere, one of the amazing acrobats sprinted from the entrance onto the stage and flipped over the boombox in a flash of lightning and then disappeared behind the curtains at the back of the venue.

The entire audience’s attention was now set to “shock and awe”, and their enamoured disbelief was to remain in that scintillating state joyously. A stirring rendition of Summertime by George Gershwin was delectably delivered by Ekremhimself and all the acrobats commenced breaking the fourth wall and involving the crowd in their antics hilariously. 

The curtains then properly opened and a tower of performers atop one another walked onto the stage; it was fantastically frightening. From this moment, the magnificent mayhem of break-dancing, gymnastics, acrobatics, music and comedy was to be showcased in an amazing amalgamation that it was simply unfeasible to look away – “captivating” truthfully understates how phenomenal this spectacle is.

The body elevations to worrying heights atop one another were frequent and exhilarating, the upholding of multiple people (up to four) upon a single acrobat was breathtaking, human surfing, human staircases,  kipping, somersaults, flips over each other from 10 metre-heights (essentially “people volleyball” if that can be perceived), insanely courageous “people tower falls”, twists, spins, handstands; it bordered on excessive, but it was impossible to not be enthralled especially with the fluorescent lights and screens. This was one of those very rare occasions where blinking seemed like an eternity and a necessity that should be avoided just so NOTHING was missed.

The humour was flawlessly balanced as a counteraction to the acrobatics, with the “fourth wall breaks” including: Make-up administration using audience members, costume adjustments and “Saucy” behaviour from the performers of the suggestive nature. Breaking into “rehearsal mode” added a nice insight and realism, however, it was the compromising positions that the performers were put in that enriched the hysterical constituents of the demonstration the most (numerous kisses and sometimes for extended periods of time were hilarious).

Ekrem Eli Phoenixmanaged to sing a composition beginning with the line: “This I know to be true” and then incorporated lyrics from literally dozens of songs by Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, The Wiggles, Whitney Houston, Shania Twain, PINK, Carly Rae Jepson, Bob Dylan, Khia, Nirvana–the list goes on and on. This writer won’t forget to mention thatEkrem was in fact being disrobed and escalated by the acrobats in a comical manner.

The final act was a spellbinding storm of running, interpretive dance and astounding acrobatics that bewitched all in the tent. It escalated toward an inescapable tension where the final presentation was of superhuman abilities that this scribe will not reveal – you will just have to trust this review and experience it for yourself.  
 
“…it will take you where you need to go.”