This is the third time we've seen GOM, the second time at A Simple Space and they just keep getting better and better.
And this time around the show does feel like the more polished version of the one we saw last time. It's always interesting to see the difference between what was quite an intimate show (due mostly to the venue and the proximity of the performers to the audience) turn into this very smart and polished piece.
They still manage to keep everything looking simple though... costumes, lighting, the space itself, because the real stars here are the performer's bodies.
Seriously, there are parts of this show I could just watch all day long (and it's not even the parts where the guys take their shirts off)... specifically Lachlan (who's definitely my favourite, I'm not gunna lie), Jascha and... apologies, I'm not sure who the base was for that... where Jascha and Lachlan never touch the floor, only walking all over the base... and the piece where Jascha never touches the floor and instead walks over the bodies of the rest of the cast is just breathtaking.
And I can only imagine how amazing it would have been for the people selected from the audience to lay under Rhiannon (who was also in Cadence) as she did the handstand canes routines and walked over both cast and audience members.
Although I did get a yellow balloon animal... well, kind of an animal, more of an avant guard modern art balloon sculpture from one of the boys after they were all racing against each other to make balloon animals behind their backs.
Those are some of my favourite sections... the spots where they're in competition with each other and skipping, flipping, making balloon animals, holding their breath or hand-standing.
Musician Elliot, also previously seen in Cadence just works brilliantly with the performers... and although he's drumming, it came out as raindrops or any other sounds that he wanted, which was just gorgeous to listen to. And when did his body percussion section, first as call and repeat with the audience, but then when he pulled off his shirt and used his body as a drum until he was all pink... that was just amazing.
The other brilliant thing about Elliot is the spaces where he was silent (which sounds counter-intuitive I know, but half of music is knowing where to put the silences)... and the only sounds were the performers breathing or grunts. Usually that stuff gets covered up, smoothed over, so it all seems pretty and artful... well screw that, I'd much rather hear the exertion and know that what they're doing is damn hard work. To me it always makes it seem that much better and more interesting.
I also love to make sure that at some point in the trick I take a look at whoever the base is... I feel like the bases don't always get as much of the love as the performers like Jascha and Rhiannon who end up right at the top of things, but next time you see a circus act, pay attention to the bases and you'll see how much damn work they put into making everything that's happening at the top look serene and delicate.
There isn't anything I can point to and say "that was the weakest part of the show"... every single thing about this show is just amazing, and several hours on, my hands are still slightly tingly from all the applause I was giving them.
Circus rarely gets much better than this, so any time you get the chance, make sure you go and see them.
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