With death-defying acrobatics and visceral emotions, Duel Reality by The 7 Fingers brings Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet into a 21st century’s search for redemption.
By John Lavitt
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 09-15-2024
In a large-scale performance at the Ahmanson Theatre, The 7 Fingers bring their mind-blowingly creative take on one of the most iconic tragedies in the Shakespeare canon to Los Angeles. Open your eyes and imagine a world where the star-crossed lovers are circus stars, and the circuses are in deadly competition. Pushing their death-defying acrobatics to the brink, the competition boils over into aggression and the threat of violence.
Once again, the Center Theatre Group offers its patrons the world’s liveliest innovations. Duel Reality is part of CTG:FWD, created by Artistic Director Snehal Desai. CTG:FWD is a series of special events and programming by the Center Theatre Group. The shows occur at the Ahmanson Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum, the Kirk Douglas Theatre, and the greater Los Angeles area.
From the show’s beginning, the audience is divided into the reds and the blues, with elastic wristbands handed out at the doors on either side. Echoing the devastating colors of Los Angeles gang wars between the Crips and the Bloods, such a simple delineation packs a powerful punch. The show starts when people in the audience start arguing over what colors they are wearing. Plants from The 7 Fingers troupe, the arguments pour onto the stage and begin an acrobatic dance of implied violence and battle.
From such an intense outset, the show continues to build as impressive kinds of acrobatics become the dueling platforms between the two warring circuses. Overall, the 7 Fingers is what innovation in theatre and performance is all about. Describing their mission in the online program, “The company has consistently spread its horizons by mixing genres and exploring new ways to tell stories. Fascinated by the human condition, The 7 Fingers create performances that celebrate our world, our time, and our humanity.”
Putting the acrobatic innovations of The 7 Fingers troupe into words is challenging. Exhilarating and intoxicating, the performers come across as Olympic-level athletes. Even more exciting, a definite equality is expressed onstage between the men and the women. Rather than a single-sex taking center stage, the show revolves around many diverse performers. Moreover, the women come across as tough and daring as the men, defying age-old prejudices of sexual determinants. Freedom and expression are the name of the game. The dance between Romeo and Juliet is a visual feast of sensual acrobatics and daring design.
Although we do not want to give away the ending, we will say The 7 Fingers chose a revisionist look at Shakespeare’s tragedy that is refreshing and resonant. Indeed, those two words define the efforts of the entire performance and make it a must-see option in this day and age. From the first conflict to the last hug with all the terrifying and dynamic stunts in between, Duel Reality is a refreshing and resonant entertainment triumph.
Photos by David Bonnet Courtesy of the Center Theatre Group
