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 Bubble, the new production from Legs on the Wall, promises to be a visceral experience, writes Garrett Bithell.
Last night saw the opening of Bubble at The Studio at Sydney Opera House – the new production by leading physical theatre company Legs on the Wall.
A dark and comical piece about the barriers we put up between ourselves and the world, Bubble is a return to the high-impact spectacle that Legs on the Wall is renowned for. Directed by long-term Legs member Rowan Marchingo, it is a fusion of acrobatics, contemporary dance and contact improvisation, and is influenced by the slapstick comedic antics of seminal cartoons such as Road Runner and The Simpsons.
“It’s been an extremely physical and emotionally exhausting ride,” star performer Anton tells SX. “I love physical work; I love the challenge of it. But in this piece, every move has a distinct reason behind it – Rowan is really interested in the audience having an emotional response."
It has been said that Bubble pays homage to the pain and futility of existence. Three characters, representing ‘Hope’, ‘Despair’ and ‘Man’, thrash around through times of darkness and light, desperately trying to find their place in the world. They love, hug and hurl each other through the air, but in their attempts to connect, all they can do is hurt each other.
“Rowan feels that the world is quite a dark place,” Anton says. “He’s using darkness as a starting point to make art, and following that in the characters – how they hurt each other.”
For this production, Legs on the Wall enlisted the expertise of Wesley Enoch to work as a dramaturg in support of Rowan.
“Sometimes in dance or physical performance, you can get really hooked on the virtuosic nature of it all – what looks good and the wow factor,” Rowan muses. “Wesley really questions that and brings it to a level of meaning for the audience.”
Anton, along with other performers Alexandra Harrison and Ingrid Kleinig, worked heavily with Wesley on character development.
“The first task he gave me was to write a story about the most fucked person I’ve ever come into contact with or could imagine,” Anton recalls. “I’m not someone who essentially believes in getting therapy through my art, but I did go on a journey. It made me much more aware of what kind of person I really don’t want to be.”
Performed live by a three-piece band, the music for Bubble is reminiscent of a carnival, somewhere between a circus sideshow and an old Hollywood musical. The score draws on classical styles and genres such as love songs, death metal and bluegrass. Drums, trombone, saw, violin, guitar, banjo and saxophone work with and against the action, pushing and pulling the audience in different directions as the performers act out their play.
“Performing to a live band is absolutely amazing,” Anton says. “There’s a different resonance and it hits the ear in a different way. It makes you feel in a different way.”
Anton is a highly accomplished independent freelance performer, having worked for lauded companies such as Australian Dance Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company and Opera Australia, and choreographers including Meryl Tankard and Tania Liedtke.
“Usually as a performer I don’t really like to concern myself with the bigger picture, because I have to really be concerned with what the director wants,” Anton says. “But with Bubble, I would love the audience to feel emotion along its journey – and possibly question the world they live in.”
Bubble by Legs on the Wall, The Studio at Sydney Opera House until August 2. For tickets call 9250 7777 or visit sydneyoperahouse.com.
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