Some performers fly through the air as others spin on silks. “Passengers” is a theatrical experience unlike any other.
The production, at American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, blends elements of circus, beat and dance, taking the audience on an unexpected journey.
Writer, director and choreographer Shana Carroll explained, “We are using visual language, we’re using physical language, we’re using circus language in ways that people are not accustomed to seeing, so it’s surprising and exciting and unfamiliar. Stimulating.”
The Tony-nominated creator first created the show in 2018, transforming a lifelong fascination with trains into art.
“It feels like it’s from a past era, and yet it’s also a promise of the future,” Carroll told WBZ-TV. “So you sort of have this like past and future all at once.”
Performer Méliejade Tremblay-Bouchard said, “It refers to the train of life, the train of opportunities, and also harder moments in our lives.” She performs with the hula hoop.
“What I love about hula hoop is that I can mix my flexibility and my dance skills. So it’s not only about like tricks itself. It’s like also about other types of art,” Tremblay-Bouchars said.
Taking the performance on the road
The Montreal-based circus company 7 Fingers first took the piece out on tour before the pandemic.
The international company is thrilled to get it back out on the road, with Carroll saying, ” We have some new cast members, some cast members who did it originally, some cast members who did it in the last few years. So it’s, it’s really exciting to kind of breathe that new life in it and movie new performers learn the show and embrace it.”
Tremblay-Bouchard explained that it’s the circus elements, all highlighting connection, that help “Passengers” come alive.
“We are expressing stories through like movement and dance in our own apparatus and our own interpretation of our story.”
Carroll added, “It’s very much about trust. It’s about literally being there to catch each other. So that’s done mechanically, but that’s also touched on within the themes of the show and the journey that these characters go on together.”
You can see “Passengers” at the Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge from September 2nd to September 26th.
About the Author
