Before I dive into my thoughts on Circus Orange’s “Tricycle,” I feel like I should give a quick disclaimer: Given the performance’s scope,
the large crowd, and the layout of Manhattan Square, there were parts of the
performance that were just impossible to see from my position. I welcome
readers to fill in some of the details and tell us about their perspective of
the show.
In all earnestness, Circus Orange’s performance of “Tricycle”
was an incredible spectacle. The Ontario-based group made its New York State premiere
at Friday on the Fringe by pushing an 18-foot-tall tricycle through a packed
crowd, shooting flames and fighting monsters along the way, before lifting a human-powered
wheel into the air for a powerful fireworks finale. With European-style circus
arts, pyrotechnics and fire acts, a little industrialism, and a lot of
surrealist whimsy, “Tricycle” could have been a Terry Gilliam fever dream.
It is largely experimental, but “Tricycle” has something of a
narrative: Foo has been charged with transporting the power of Light back to
the people. He mounts his tricycle, with Light stored within the wheel, and
calls out — using a combination of French, gibberish, and some random English
words — to his helpers to join him. Along the way they are joined by acrobatic
fire-bearers, monsters subdued by Foo, and the Fire Queen. Upon reaching
its destination, Light is lifted into the sky to shine over the audience.
By weaving the tricycle through the crowd, Circus Orange made
an interactive, unique experience. The crowd was up close, could feel the heat of the machine’s flames, and be
more like participants, rather than just observers.
It must have taken careful planning, but Circus Orange explored
the Manhattan Square space: the tricycle wound from one side of the park to the
other, with a fireball show occurring over the grass and a graceful dance
routine taking place down in the bowl. Given the viewer’s position, experiences watching the
show could have been drastically different.
On paper, that sounds like a great performance idea, but from
an audience standpoint… (Thus my disclaimer.)
For any missed tricycle moments, the finale more than made up
for it. The well-timed fireworks and spinning fire wheel high above the crowd
was entrancing — especially if you paid attention to the acrobat in the middle,
powering the wheel with a dream-like slow-motion run and flips.
Circus Orange is the type of group that adds the unique
spectacle to fringe festivals — bringing epic-in-scope shows that you rarely
get anywhere else. I look forward to seeing that next fever dream.
Circus Orange performed “Tricycle” throughout MLK Jr. Park at Manhattan Square. | Video shot & edited by Matt DeTurck
This article appears in Sep 17-23, 2014.
I agree with Mr. Schila’s characterization of “Tricycle” as “an incredible spectacle.” I attended with my two kids, ages 10 and 12. We were far away from the early part of the performance, and I was worried that they would get bored. Toward the end, the tricycle rolled right past us. We were well positioned to enjoy the finale. After the show was finished, my kids declared it the greatest thing they had ever seen!
I learned more about the narrative from reading this review than I did from experiencing the performance. What a fun event!
You were lucky if you could see any of it. This was the wrong venue for this. Plus the security people were less than helpful, I would say snarky. The only thing we could see was the fire shooting up at one point. At the Grand Finale if you were behind the Tricycle, as many people were, the only thing you could see was the cage in the air. Everything in front of the tricycle was blocked. Very frustrating. If they looked at the site someone should have realized this was a mistake. There are a lot of folks who would not have said this was a fun event, but an unorganized mob scene.
I walked backwards in front of the tricycle for 18 minutes and filmed much of the action up close and personal. Security was in the impossible position of creating a path through a packed crowd who had no space to move. In 62 years I have seen many shows and events but this was a one of a kind experience. It was surreal to adults and the stuff of nightmares to the younger attendee. A father with his daughter on his shoulders behind me in the crush of people kept saying, “close your eyes and cover your ears, I cannot get you out of here”. The lights, the fire and smoke, the sounds, the costumes, and the actions of the actors disoriented the crowd. Probably 99% of the crowd saw less than 5 minutes of the tricycle moving through the park because it was impossible to see over the heads of the crowd once the procession got 10 or 15 feet away from the observer. I can understand why most of the crowd was disappointed and frustrated to not be able to see what was happening because they missed an incredible experience. I will edit my video footage and post to you tube once it is finished. I will post a link here.