First performed as a half-hour outdoor show at the National Theatre in 2010, Smashed has become Gandini Juggling’s most successful show. It makes a brief return to London at the Peacock as part of a short tour.
Run by Sean Gandini and Kati Ylä-Hokkala, the company thrives on skill, playfulness, and “the dark side of juggling,” with Smashed‘s choreography heavily influenced by the work of Pina Bausch.
A show for nine performers (seven men, two women) and many apples, this show uses the forbidden fruit to explore vignettes of power, temptation, punishment, cruelty, and a tea party which becomes increasingly violent.
The soundtrack utilises music hall, jazz, opera, classical music, and popular standards. It’s hugely enjoyable in its own right, whether playing Louis Armstrong, Brenda Lee, or the catchy “I Like Bananas …”.
Whether in a mannered and considered parade to Little Jack Little’s “I’ve Always Wanted To Waltz In Berlin”, or enacting scenes of dominance to Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man”, it is the skill of the jugglers that stands out.
They can be heckled, pushed around, and restrained, but they never fail to keep those apples in the air unless their fall is part of the show. A feat of muscle memory, coordination, and even beauty.
Smashed is not really a coherent story – more a series of sketches run through with cruelty. At first, it takes a while to settle and reel us in.
Bill Frisell’s “The End of the World” is the backdrop to a woman attracting men like flies, but as an object, not subject. Another woman juggles alone, but she shall have her revenge.
“Gelido in Ogni Vena,” a particularly poignant piece of opera by Vivaldi, accompanies a scene of utter chaos, expertly timed and blocked as crockery flies and apples are crushed underfoot.
As well as Gandini and Ylä-Hokkala, the cast for this run comprises Tedros Girmaye, Kim Huynh, Antek Klemm, Sakari Männistö, Iñaki Sastre, Malte Steimetz and Jose Triguero.
Männistö is the one who disrupts, whose activities lead to a mischievous ostracisation. Steimetz is all lanky limbs and very funny, especially as the show reaches its climax. Girmaye and Triguero offer a sense of the complexity of the clown.
Ylä-Hokkala and Huynh play off each other as the two Eves of the night, while the men rush to impress, beguile, or belittle them. Some sequences are a crush of bodies, while the fruit continues to spin.
Smashed (seen here in a one-hour version) has moments that didn’t always work for me, but it is definitely something different for a night out. It isn’t exactly circus, nor exactly dance, but it is a fusion that also has something to say.
Smashed plays tonight at the Peacock Theatre. For more on Gandini, go to their website with tour dates and booking links here.
***.5
Image credit: Ryoko Uyama (header), Claudine Quinn, Ludovic des Cognets