Reviews Bristol Published 25 March 2011

Yalla Yalla

22nd March - 2nd April 2011

Wordless circus theatre from PanGottic.

Tom Phillips

Yalla Yalla

Clowning around.

Virtually wordless and ostensibly narrative-free, Bristol-based circus-theatre company PanGottic’s second production begins with a spot-lit empty bench. The three performers, when they appear, inhabit and push at the edges of an indeterminate space, defined by a lectern, a drum-kit and an upright piano.

Initially, it looks unpromising, but by the end,sixty minutes later, it seems entirely plausible that the audience should be willingly taking part in what amounts to a joyously surreal mix of game show and fairground hoop-la. En route we’ve had deft, deconstructed juggling routines, balletic physical theatre, comic facial gymnastics that would happily grace a gurning competition, frenetic disco dancing and some tour-de-force beatboxing. There are sequences of precise rhythmic choreography which revolve around the bench, others which divert into a glittery showbiz world and others again which tone down into a slow-motion, open-mouthed anxiety and panic. It’s hard to pinpoint what holds all this together exactly but, somehow, it feels as if a story, no matter how vague, has been told.

At least part of Yalla Yalla’s success depends on the warm-hearted rapport that Matt Pang and Revital Gottshalk establish with the audience. Having met at Circomedia, PanGottic’s core duo take the Bristol training school’s ethos – to drag circus out of the sawdust and imbue it with the values of exploratory theatre – and run with it, bringing together clowning, silent movie slapstick, music hall, Poor Theatre and even a touch of Beckett in fast-moving routines and more reflective interludes. While their timing’s slick and their athleticism impressive, their repertoire of gawky shrugs and pulled faces ensures a light touch: even the most skilfully synchronised moves come with a nod and a wink. Third performer Vid Warren, meanwhile, adds an entirely different dimension. Suited and booted, impeccably deadpan, the beatboxer-cum-pianist-cum-drummer doesn’t merely sit to the side, soundtracking the piece. In the first series of routines, he paces between his instruments, laying down the rhythms which effectively control the performance as Pang and Gottshalk respond – or fail to respond – to his often jaw-droppingly complex beats or uncanny synth and piano lines.

Slowly, though, the trio’s dynamics change. After he’s been undressed and re-dressed by the other two (don’t ask), Warren’s drawn more closely, more equally, into the performance. All the while maintaining his astonishing stream of oral pyrotechnics, he effectively paves the way for the gloriously absurd ‘third act’, during which the audience too becomes central, initially in ones and twos and then finally – without giving too much away – en masse. (Those of a nervous disposition needn’t worry: participation may be near-mandatory but it’s not in any way demanding or embarrassing.)

All told, Yalla Yalla manages to be more than the sum of its seemingly disparate parts, an enjoyably daft portmanteau of routines and skits which touches on broader themes of communication, involvement and belonging. Disappointingly, perhaps, the less obviously engaging slo-mo scenes don’t really go anywhere, but the energetic combination of comedy and circus with the ever-inventive live score more than carry the day.

Curiously, the company’s publicity claims the show doesn’t contain ‘a single word’, but that’s not strictly true. Every now and then, Warren sighs a distinctly audible ‘well’. It’s both punctuation and invitation, a pause for breath and a plangent take on Morecambe and Wise’s infamous ‘What do you think of it so far?’ Fortunately, in this instance, the answer isn’t ‘rubbish’.

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Tom Phillips

Tom has lived in Bristol for 25 years. After ten years working in radio, became a freelance journalist, and is now chief sub-editor for Venue magazine. He’s published two collections of poetry (Reversing into the Cold War and Burning Omaha) and eight of his plays have been staged in Bristol and Bath, including Hotel Illyria and Arbeit Macht Frei. Having spent three summers idling around eastern Europe by train, he’s now studying for a PhD in travel writing at Reading University.

Yalla Yalla Show Info


Produced by PanGottic Circus-Theatre

Cast includes Revital Gottshalk, Matt Pang, Vid Warren

Link http://www.tobaccofactorytheatre.com

Running Time 1 hr (no interval)

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