By Mike Hoban
‘Passengers’ – U.S. Premiere presented by ArtsEmerson at the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre, 219 Tremont Street Boston. September 25 through October 13
ArtsEmerson will be bringing back Montreal’s The Seven Fingers to open their 10th season next week, with the circus arts troupe presenting the U.S. Premiere of ‘Passengers’. The piece will explore “our fascination with trains both in terms of nostalgic dreams of another era or another land, and as metaphor for the twists and turns of life among fateful encounters with strangers.” Theater Mirror had the chance to speak with a pair of the troupe’s newest performers recently, aerial silks and trapeze artist Sabine van Rensburg and tight wire artist Brin Schoellkopf – both of whom will be making their debut with the arts collective with this show.
Theater Mirror: We know that Seven Fingers shows are always about more than just the circus arts. Tell us the narrative that runs through Passengers? In essence, what’s it all about – besides trains?
Sabine: “There’s not so much a linear narrative as it is about exploring the themes around traveling – for example, why you would leave a place, or the reasons you would go towards something. And it’s kind of a metaphor for life in the sense that the train is the journey that you’re on while you’re having all these encounters along the way.”
Brin: For us as the artists in the show, you see these eight people meet each other on the train, but we also manipulate the scene to create these different tableaus or images that give the audience an opportunity to reflect on experiences that they might have had while traveling, and I think that’s what’s really special about the show.
Theater Mirror: So what can audiences expect to see in the show?
Sabine: In one of my favorite scenes, we’re all sitting in the train car when one girl freezes time, and it creates all these connections between the characters in the train cars, which kind of re-morphs the destinies of these people traveling on the train. For me it’s a kind of wink to where we are today with social media. We’re always looking down when we’re on the Metro (subway train) and we never make those connections anymore, so it’s a little reminder for us all that maybe we should take the time in our day to remember who we are and to reach out to somebody and make a connection.
Brin: Another thing that we play with in this show – aside from arrivals and departures – are these funky interactions that we have along the way, where you’re sitting next to someone, and there’s this awkwardness you feel about meeting new people, as you try to decide whether you take that extra step to actually try to have a conversation. We also play with the idea of what happens when you fall asleep on a train, and fall into a dreamscape. You can always find a lot of little details in Seven Fingers shows, because there’s always a lot going on at the same time.
Theater Mirror: One thing that I always find interesting about Seven Fingers shows is how you incorporate your routines to fit into the narrative that you’re exploring. How did you work your particular disciplines in the threads running through the show?
Sabine: I think the Seven Fingers really try to break the (circus arts show) mold of “act/link, act/link”. For example, my act is called “Sabine’s Departure”, where I have to say goodbye to the whole group, because I’m leaving to start on my new adventure. So my aerial silk is representative of the future and my goals as I climb up and away from the rest of the group. And that’s one way you can link the art and make a more symbolic statement. Another example would be the trapeze segment, where two of us are sitting on the trapeze, and the rest are sitting on chairs. And eventually, the trapeze comes to represent just another row of seats on the trip.
Brin: For the tight wire specifically it’s more metaphorical, where I’m kind of falling into this dreamscape, and it represents the unbalanceable nature (of one’s life). So I’m balancing on a wire, and what does this represent? It can represent a lot of things. Instability and trying to find someone. It kind of creates this path, so I think it’s what the story becomes, following that path even though you may not be sure where you’re going. I think the show in general uses a lot of metaphors and symbols as well as these literal structures that are created by the apparatuses that we use.
Theater Mirror: Sabine, you had said that circus arts shows sometimes follow the formula of “act/link, act/link”. When I describe The Seven Fingers to friends, I joke that it’s kind of a millennial version of Cirque du Soleil. How would you describe it?
Sabine: I think the Seven Fingers’ signature is drawing from the artists personal backgrounds, as the directors really get to know their artists on a personal level. We’ve been to (Passengers director) Shana Carroll’s house for many dinners, and talked extensively about our lives and personal stories, and she really draws on our (personalities and background) to really elevate the performance aspect of the shows. I think it’s what makes this company really special – taking it from a personal level to performance.
For a sneak preview of the show, go to: https://7fingers.com/shows/creations/passagers. For tickets and information, go to: https://artsemerson.org/
