CIRCUS SHOP OF HORRORS by the company (Second Star Productions). At the Annex Theatre. July 10 at 2:15 pm, July 11 at 7 pm, July 12 at noon, July 14 at 9:15 pm. See listing. Rating: NNN
Second Star Productions has the great idea of blending circus arts, dance and magic with the imagery from famous horror movies. If only the execution lived up to the concept this could be a super show.
The loose plot starts with the old cliche of a car breaking down near an isolated cabin. The cliche continues when the lone young woman driver (Kiriana Stanton) encounters the inhabitants lip-synching to songs from The Rocky Horror Show led by drag version of Pennywise from It (Zel Tyrant). As Stanton fights her way through the cabin demonstrating her stage combat skills, she witnesses and even participates in various circus and magic acts. Best are magician Ryan Browns plucking fans of cards from thin air, Emma Donnelly in a complex routine on aerial silks and Tyrant in a painful-looking yet innovative exercise on aerial chains.
The show references nearly 20 movies either through movement and images or, less well, through cheap masks. Justine Cargos direction tends to be clunky rather than smooth, and the acts themselves lack the final degree of finesse to hide the effort, which is necessary for the performances completely to dazzle.
Still, the show demonstrates that the potential for a new kind of dark cirque is already here.
