REVIEW: CIRCA DUCK POND

You’ve never seen Swan Lake like this. Circa’s newest genre-defying show takes some serious leaps from its source material - and each others’ shoulders - in this fresh spectacle full of dynamic movement and bold design. 

Duck Pond, created by Circa Artistic Director and CEO Yaron Lifschitz, tells a brand new story that merges the tales of The Ugly Duckling and Swan Lake, feeling somewhat familiar while full of surprises. Using the medium of circus for this story cleverly flips the expected energy of traditional, placed, rigid ballet on its head, and champions a playful ensemble of performers free to express their individual strengths and quirks. Their cohesiveness and ease in teamwork makes this production shine, and it’s beyond a joy to watch the amount of trust and care they hold with each other as a cast. The things this company can do are exceptional and quite thrilling, like one of those things you’re afraid to watch but can’t tear your gaze from.

Image by Daniel Boud

Half the fun of this show lies with the design as the stage and performers transform. They pack a lot into the 75 minute run time - with multiple starkly different acts. Yaron’s stage design is open but defined, with boundaries of tall cloth that move and flow acting as a fence between playing space and backstage. Its height gives a sense of scale to the bodies on stage, and makes their feats seem almost broader in scale. The costume design by Libby McDonnell is equally practical and playful, as we see our ‘swan’ acrobats in modern sleek leotards and our ‘duck’ acrobats in cartoonish oversized suspended pants with bright matching shoes. 

The sound composition and design by Jethro Woodward uses short classic themes from Swan Lake as well as other melodies, remixed in a uniquely circus-club style. My ear was itching to hear longer sections of the known music in the design but it didn’t detract from the vibes that the music brought, whimsical and timeless.

Image by Daniel Boud

This production immaculately captured the ultimate intersection of skill and play, and we as an audience felt so in on the action, applauding every time a new ‘impossible’ thing was executed. The storyline gave us a lovely plot twist at the end, before a complete gear shift into something entirely new to send us back into the world feeling like we got to see a secret encore. It’s running until the 25th January at the beautiful Princess Theatre in Melbourne, before heading on tour nationally and internationally. Catch it quick! You don’t want to miss this one.

Click here for tickets

4 out of 5 Stars