Sacre - Theater Mirror

Cast of ‘Sacre’ at the *Boch Center Shubert Theatre*

by Michele Markarian

“Sacre”. Created by Yaron Lifschitz and the Circa Ensemble. Directed by Yaron Lifschitz. Music by Philippe Bachman and Igor Stravinsky. Presented by the Celebrity Series of Boston, Boch Center Shubert Theatre, 265 Tremont Street Boston, through February 11.

Watching “Sacre”, I couldn’t help but think of my first trip to India. The streets were crowded with activity – tuk tuks, people four or five deep on motorbikes, cars, regular bicycles. My colleague and I stood on one side of the road, jittery, panicking, eventually darting tensely across the street like rabbits on steroids. The people who lived there, though, had no such fear. They calmly and serenely crossed the street, as if they were working with the chaos and motion, and not against it. “Sacre” has a similar flow to it, a synergy between cast members of safety, trust, and belonging that’s only frightening if you’re on the outside looking in.

Cast of “Sacre”, being presented by Celebrity Series of Boston February 9-111

Next weekend (February 9-11) the Celebrity Series of Boston will present “Sacre”, a re-imagining of “The Rite of Spring” by Australian contemporary circus company Circa, at the Boch Center Shubert Theatre. Theater Mirror had an opportunity to speak with acting artistic director Benjamin Knapton, who directed “Sacre”, last week.

TM: Tell us about Circa and how they differ from other circus arts troupes?

BK: In the early 2000s, Yaron Lifschitz (artistic director and CEO of Circa) took over a troupe called Rock n Roll Circus, and that company was doing some real different circus in Brisbane, Australia at the time. Yaron has a theater background, and when he started working with the (troupe) he essentially stripped it back, taking away the fancy costumes and lighting and set design, and really started to focus on the acrobatic body and what it could do, as well as the personalities and the emotional capacity of the performance. Since then, we’ve brought back sets and lighting and we do children’s shows (“Wolfgang’s Magical Musical Circus”), but the heart of that intent is still focused on the acrobatics, the acrobatic body and who the are performers are as people. With ‘Sacre’ for instance, there’s nothing on stage, it’s an empty black space lit by this one light. And it really focuses in on these extraordinary 10 acrobats who are in the show.

Tag: Sacre

A Thrilling, Imaginative “Sacre” by CIRCA

Q & A with Benjamin Knapton of ‘Sacre’, ‘The Rite of Spring’ Performance Re-Imagined as Circus