THE 7-PERSON CHAIR PYRAMID HIGH WIRE ACT (Der Vorfuhreffekt Theatre): 2016 Fringe review 35

7-person-high-wire

In THE 7-PERSON CHAIR PYRAMID HIGH WIRE ACT, a Smokey Robinson-loving yeti aims to win a dance contest, and a randomly chosen audience member delivers a love letter to the electromagnetic spectrum on behalf of a bat. There’s fact-checking on what should be considered a miracle or not, and if love actually exists. Characters take the forms of puppets, paper collages, humans, and lightbox drawings.

So, here’s the thing. Donna Oblongata, who also wrote the show, and Patrick Costello are impressive puppeteers and can make a trapdoor-laden, MacGyver-esque set seem larger than its 6’-by-3’ with their multi-character antics. The show’s plot lines blend together, and a few themes — love, human connection, defiant identity — run throughout. But it’s hard to describe what THE 7-PERSON CHAIR PYRAMID HIGH WIRE ACT is actually about. Maybe it’s the philosophical rantings and a title that references a 20th-century circus act that ended in tragedy, but is only referenced briefly in the show itself. Maybe that doesn’t matter. At the play’s end, warm fuzzies abound when Batticus and the electromagnetic spectrum share a tender moment — and that’s something in which everyone, regardless of whether love actually exists, can find purpose.

[Panorama, 5213 Grays Avenue] September 9-17, 2016; fringearts.com/7-person-chair-pyramid-high-wire-act.

 

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