The Broadway Blog is taking an international peek at theatrical happenings around the globe — and what better place to begin than in the land of Sally Bowles? Berlin!
Cast of LOFT, photo: Andy Phillpson
Have you ever fantasized about living with a bunch of twenty-something acrobatic circus performers? Hey, we’ve all got our fetishes. Leave it to “the 7 fingers”, a Montreal-based circus troupe, to transform mundane apartment living into a sexy, gravity-defying evening of live theater titled LOFT.
Scantily clad in white undergarments, the cast of six twist, turn, balance, juggle, and toss themselves in a variety of acts — some more successful than others. From contortion to hand to hand, this isn’t your average house party.
While Cirque du Soleil has built an empire on epic staging and jaw-dropping theatrics, “the 7 fingers” strips (sometimes literally) the craft to its essence. The performers excel best when in their elements, but where Cirque shows master the art of story-telling, LOFT occasionally gets lost in its own youthful exuberance. Like a long-lost episode of MTV’s “Real World”, it’s hard to decipher the ever-changing dynamics of who likes who and why so-and-so is scaling the refrigerator.
LOFT is part of a series presented at The Chamäleon Theatre in Berlin. Originally built in 1906, the building features Wilhelminian architecture and Art Nouveau accents. LOFT runs through February 17, 2103.
