The evening-length work is a constantly entertaining, technically impressive feat from a unique collective. - Recital, a review on Medium
Escape Velocity is a narrative circus where every act is drawn from an original cirque-themed tarot deck. Each card sparks the story of a soul trapped in a limbo of their own making. The show has multiple endings depending on choices made by the audience.
The piece explores how we develop awareness of the prisons of our own creation. An aerialist is trapped in her own levity; a magician can’t escape his own illusions; even the master of ceremonies is bound by the cards. In Limbo, characters perform an act that represents the failures and lessons of their life; they can only be released when they discover how to transcend their script. Just as an airplane must reach a certain escape velocity to take off and fly, and a spacecraft must reach a certain escape velocity to break through Earth’s gravity, each character tries to muster the emotional awareness and willpower to break free.
In our story, as so often in our lives, each of us follows a script for how to behave that have been handed to us by society, or constructed from early experiences. Yet humans also have tremendous capacity for change; we can reconsider and re-craft these scripts in acts of resistance, subversion, rebellion, and rebirth. Escape Velocity explores the many ways we are in a prison, but the door is locked from the inside.
Will the hierarchy of the circus withstand the night? Will the performers rebel? And if they do, will they succeed?
Escape Velocity was developed as a unique collaboration by Double Blind Productions
Direction and ground choreography by Moriah Ella Mason in collaboration with the performers
Aerial choreography by Mandy Hackman
Music by Miles Wilder
Text and Story by Angela Whalen, Miles Wilder, and Moriah Ella Mason
Costumes and Props by Mandy Hackman
Illustrations and Animations by John Hackman
Characters and acts based on the Wayfinders Arcana by Mandy Hackman and John Hackman
Featuring Performances by O'Ryan the O'mazing, Roberta Guido, and the Bombyx Collective (Marcella Day, Kristin Gabarino, Patty Petronello, and Elizabeth Wack)
Presented at the New Hazlett Theater as part of the Community Supported Art series, June 2018.
[review] [preview] [interview] [interview] [double blind productions]
The piece explores how we develop awareness of the prisons of our own creation. An aerialist is trapped in her own levity; a magician can’t escape his own illusions; even the master of ceremonies is bound by the cards. In Limbo, characters perform an act that represents the failures and lessons of their life; they can only be released when they discover how to transcend their script. Just as an airplane must reach a certain escape velocity to take off and fly, and a spacecraft must reach a certain escape velocity to break through Earth’s gravity, each character tries to muster the emotional awareness and willpower to break free.
In our story, as so often in our lives, each of us follows a script for how to behave that have been handed to us by society, or constructed from early experiences. Yet humans also have tremendous capacity for change; we can reconsider and re-craft these scripts in acts of resistance, subversion, rebellion, and rebirth. Escape Velocity explores the many ways we are in a prison, but the door is locked from the inside.
Will the hierarchy of the circus withstand the night? Will the performers rebel? And if they do, will they succeed?
Escape Velocity was developed as a unique collaboration by Double Blind Productions
Direction and ground choreography by Moriah Ella Mason in collaboration with the performers
Aerial choreography by Mandy Hackman
Music by Miles Wilder
Text and Story by Angela Whalen, Miles Wilder, and Moriah Ella Mason
Costumes and Props by Mandy Hackman
Illustrations and Animations by John Hackman
Characters and acts based on the Wayfinders Arcana by Mandy Hackman and John Hackman
Featuring Performances by O'Ryan the O'mazing, Roberta Guido, and the Bombyx Collective (Marcella Day, Kristin Gabarino, Patty Petronello, and Elizabeth Wack)
Presented at the New Hazlett Theater as part of the Community Supported Art series, June 2018.
[review] [preview] [interview] [interview] [double blind productions]
With so many moving parts, director and dancer Moriah Ella Mason does a commendable job overseeing the operation, even finding space among the big tent acts to include nuanced gestures like Guido watering the mermaid and Arrowroot’s contemplation of power and control when holding the now-ousted Ringmaster’s hat. - Recital, a review on Medium
The last scene shows Mason and Guido letting a balloon float upwards. It’s a simple, open-ended gesture that represents the subtlety that this collective can achieve, a nice contrast to the daring technical feats that anchor this intriguing performance. - Recital, a review on Medium
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