Picture yourself at a house party where a circus breaks out, and you’ll begin to conceive Undertone. Collaborations between musicians and circus performers are nothing new but combining this music with these performers is. It’s jeans and tshirts, synth and computer but as always it’s the shoes that reveal the truth. No peeling Converse or scuffed Doc Martins here and despite the pliable rubber soles that stand in their place, there is an air of cool. Undertone isn’t the most technically complex or tightly orchestrated circus you’ll ever see but it’s funny, clever and entertaining in its own unique way.
One thing Undertone does brilliantly is clowning around. When every audience member is told to take a ping pong ball as they enter, they take their seats confident that they are going to enjoy using them. It was one example of a troupe happy to maintain a permeable boundary with its audience and a casual atmosphere that made it easy to forgive small missteps. That’s not to say that the acrobatics were unimpressive, just the opposite, but what was gained in vibe was lost in execution and there were times when it felt more dress rehearsal than opening night.
But there are times when technical perfection is an absolute necessity and there are times when it is not. Undertone succeeds because it does something unique and interesting. The incorporation of Zoltan Fresco’s masterful soundscaping adds a dimension that gives the entire performance more drama, more laughs and more depth, a dimension that Avan Whaite truly knows how to exploit. It creates props out of thin air and invites active imaginations to fill in the gaps without becoming the focus. Balance is always difficult when action and sound are so carefully intertwined and it was a balance that was held much like troupe’s balancing artist: frighteningly impressive but just unstable enough to be interesting.
There was a sense of danger that may or may not have been intended but certainly added to the drama and saw plenty of fingernails gnawed down a few millimetres. In the final calculation this is what Undertone was. A bit of a party, a strident and at times reckless experiment whose success was in the balance until the final bow but sealed by the raucous applause that followed it. It wasn’t perfect but it was great time, an exhilarating breath of fresh air for those who like their circus with a twist.
3.5 out of 5 stars
Undertone
Melbourne Fringe Festival
Melba Spiegeltent, Collingwood
21 – 25 September 2016
