The Actor’s Gymnasium Winter Circus is Aquí o Allá – A Circus Story, in association with La Vuelta Theater Lab

“Here, or there?” It’s a question most of us ask at least once a day. Aquí o Allá – A Circus Story, created and directed by Raquel Torre – asks this question for 75 minutes straight with dance, circus arts and sound. The association of La Vuelta Theater Lab with The Actors Gymnasium at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center in Evanston has produced a visual playground for a little family of misfit clowns to find a home.

The stage is a vaguely dystopian, forgotten alley in a large city. There are signs that warn not to feed the rats, and reminders for silence and rule following. In one corner, is a workstation for City Metronome 65 – run by a nameless city worker (Satya Chavez) with musical tendencies who appears to never leave, perhaps trapped by the monotony of life in the urban underbelly.

The Teen Ensemble of the Actors Gymnasium fills out the stage with worker drones who move strictly to a schedule. One of the best aspects of the Actors Gym is seeing these young artists work, learn and grow onstage, with near perfect timing and an underlying sense of excitement.

One day, our heroes, Jean Carlos Claudio, Kat Hoil, Kaitlyn Andrews, and Glenna Broderick stumble onto the stage, their worldly possessions in their hands and on their backs. In a land of immigrants, they don’t need lines to tell us what they are searching for, or even where they have come from. All we need to know is that they are together, and they are determined.

What follows is a playful interlude with exceptionally talented clowns. I had the pleasure of seeing Kaitlyn Andrews in last year’s Little Red, it was wonderful to see her growth as a performer. Her aerial dance on silks, a celebration of finally being able to call a new place home, is smoothly captivating. Kat Hoil plays a flamboyant, dramatic troublemaker and has quite an adventure trying to acquire a new pair of shoes. Glenna Broderick garnered the biggest gasps of the night with a breakneck run down a pole, winning the hearts of the audience but making no headway with the faceless, nameless denizens of the city they were hoping to call home. Jean Carlos Claudio, who I was lucky to see star in last year’s Memorabilia, plays a rather paternal, take charge character who ultimately has to fall back into the arms of his family to remember his own strength. Despite their charm, resourcefulness and warmth, the clowns lose nearly everything they have – until welcome comes from an unexpected place.

The music is all composed and performed live by Satya Chavez, who has a rich and powerful singing voice and an ability to make chaos sound orderly. In this tale, we are reminded that it is personal connection: the continued, ever hopeful reaching out across the barriers of language and difference, that carry us up and over the inevitable loss that haunts every life.  Watching circus artists use their bodies for storytelling and art is always an experience that inspires awe – with this crew, there is also pathos and ultimately, belonging.

Recommended

Reviewed by Alina C. Hevia

Not recommended for children under 5.

All performances are at Noyes Cultural Arts Center at 927 Noyes St., Evanston, IL.

Show dates are February 21 – March 22. Performances are Saturdays at 4:00 PM and 7:00 PM, and Sundays at 3:00 PM. Tickets start at $25 for adults and can be purchased online at www.actorsgymnasium.org/shows

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.