CIRCA: HUMANS 2.0 AT THE WALLIS

My favorite theatre—the Wallis in Beverly Hills—just brought us my favorite show—Humans 2.0—of the year! Perfect.

Even with seeing many circuses since I was a little girl, (including decades worth of Cirque du Soleil presentations,) and even being in the biggest traveling big top in America myself waaay back in the day, I have never seen anything like Humans 2.0 from Australia’s Circa. (Exactly five years ago, I had missed Humans, the company’s first performance at the Wallis, because I was in New York. Had I known what I do now, I would have returned to LA for it! I may have to finally visit Australia now!)

I do not even know how to describe what Mr. X and I just saw. (Yes, you did read that right—after a friend checked-out this group on YouTube, and declared them to be “amazing,” I insisted my bae come with me. And we’re both glad he did. Halfway through, he whispered to me, “Spectacular.”) And let me warn you right now—you’re going to see more exclamation points in this review than you’ve even seen in any one article anywhere because there’s no way to write about Circa’s astonishing accomplishments without them after just about every sentence.

I know Humans 2.0 is billed as a circus, but trust me—this is sooo much beyond that! I couldn’t even figure-out some of what they were doing! By the way, I really do not get the title at all. I get the “2.0,” of course, because it’s the second one. It’s the “Humans” I don’t get—what these ten athletes do is definitely not human! Superhuman, but not plain human. These just might be the most talented people in the world!

There’s no story to the production; it’s simply continuous movement without even any stoppage for applause! Every member of the troupe gets thrown around, climbs on each other in mind-boggling ways, and executes amazing feats of strength and agility. These people have balance like I’ve never seen in my life.

In addition to all of that, one girl works on aerial straps, another on silks, and a part of the group “finale,” (which I likened to the end of a fireworks display, with so many going off in a row,) which features a beautiful display of tumbling, is done on a low trapeze.

Human’s 2.0 is very different from any other acrobatic show. I’d say that at least 95% of it is comprised of moves that were new to most of the audience. It’s full of the classiest, most surprising acrobatics ever!

There’s exquisite artistry, fascinating choreography, precision of timing, and especially extreme trust among the artists! Never even for one second did I think that anyone was going to fall. They totally inspired confidence. OMG to it all!

These are the strongest people in the world, especially one of the girls. My back was hurting just sitting in the audience because I had moved a vacuum cleaner earlier in the day without my back brace on! (And not even to use it.)

That my loquacious self did not utter more than just one comment to Mr. X during the whole time, (I said, “I can do that,” the one time they just walked for a few seconds!,) tells you all you need to know.

The entire presentation is only seventy minutes, but by the end, I was exhausted! The performers appeared fresh as daisies, but I needed oxygen from holding my breath as I watched them—now I truly know what “breathtaking” means!

I didn’t even mind the ecru costume palette. I usually need colors, but they were unnecessary in this case; for once, I barely noticed what anyone was wearing, or even what they looked like, because what they were doing was so fantastic. That just might be a first for me!

The dramatic lighting by Paul Jackson enhanced every section of the piece. And Mr. X insists I give kudos to the original music by Ori Lichtik, which he says “feeds the energy” of the whole shebang!

But above all else, I must laud Circa’s Artistic Director and CEO, and creator of this show, Yaron Lifschitz, for everything! He’s a true visionary.

And as usual, the Wallis’ Bram Goldsmith Theater, with it’s every-seat-is-ideal configuration, was the perfect venue for Circa: Humans 2.0.

I sat next to two fun guys, who told me they love theatre, in general, but had never been to the Wallis before! They were very impressed with the look of the entire place, and asked me about what the shows are like there. After I sang the theatre’s praises, they told me they’ll definitely be back. As will I, of course, possibly even with Mr. X in tow again!

So please check-out the rest of the Wallis’ schedule here: www.thewallis.org.