While living in a care facility, Q, a woman struggling with dementia, is visited by her family and her memories in the world premiere of {IN}TANGIBLE A circus play, now in a four-night engagement at NYC’s Theatre Row. Created by Brianna Kalisch, the production, presented as part of the 10th Anniversary commemoration and fundraising efforts of the Dementia Society of America, is an affecting combination of the confusion and frustration that comes with the neurocognitive disorder and the joyous recollections of life as translated into the beauty of circus, acrobatic, and dance performances.
Under the engaging and sensitive direction of Felicity Hesed, a multi-talented cast of six, four appearing in dual roles, captures the emotions and fantasies triggered by dementia, from the present isolation of forgetting her loved ones and who and where she is, to the happiness of the magical reimaginings of her past in her mind’s eye – some stimulated by objects she sees or old photographs in an album she peruses – here envisioned through the dramatic and exhilarating spectacle of circus arts. Those include masterful feats with colorful glow-in-the-dark juggling balls, jump rope and hula hoops, spinning plates, high stilts, trapeze, and aerial ropes and silks, as performed by her younger self and the elder and younger generations of her family.
There are also distressing episodes of the consecutive repetition of a childhood memory with details that change in each retelling as she recalls and embellishes it, a panic attack while comforting her adult daughter in bed, and her son and daughter’s painful recognition that they are no longer able to care for her in their homes or even stay with her for a visit when she has no idea of who they are or why they’re there in her blurred state of dementia. It’s all brought to life in an empathetic portrayal by Cynthia Shaw as Q, who believably shifts from disoriented and distressed to rare moments of lucidity to feelings of delight, as she smiles and watches the jubilant circus-style re-enactments of cherished times with her beloved husband, parents, and children.
Shaw is joined by the captivating and compelling circus artists/actors Mikayla Dinsdale (École Supérieure des Arts Du Cirque) as the Young Q, Maks Turner (Bindlestiff Family Cirkus) as her son Oliver and her Pop, Kalisch as her daughter Penny and her Mom, and Tim Canali as her husband John, with Sherese Parris as her caring and patient nurse Carroll (the latter two also appearing as Bart and Brenda in her memories). All deliver the circus of emotions, significant personal connections, and overarching compassion and hope inherent in the play, along with the dazzling physicality of Evan Tomlinson Weintraub’s acrobatic design and a stirring ending that will leave you both smiling and wiping the tears from your eyes.
The highly skilled and deeply moving cast is supported by expressive original music by Ruby Fulton and Allison Clendaniel, sound by Anna-Lee Craig, and lighting by Jacqueline Scalette, which contribute to the moods and magic of the story. Victoria Ordeman provides the contemporary character-appropriate costumes, which also allow for the artists’ extensive movements, and the set and props by Jiaying Zhang easily transition from Q’s bedroom in the care center to the manifested locales she revisits in the beautiful memories of her life.
{IN}TANGIBLE A Circus Play is a heartfelt and heartening work that examines the debilitating effects of dementia and the most meaningful highpoints of life and love that define humanity and will always be with us, embedded in our hearts and souls.
Running Time: Approximately 75 minutes, without intermission.
{IN}TANGIBLE A Circus Play plays through Sunday, August 11, 2024, at Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street, NYC. For tickets (priced at $39-49, including fees), go online.
