“Air Play,” by the globe-trotting Acrobuffos, is a modern spectacle that brings to life the very air we breathe.
Flying umbrellas, larger-than-life balloons, giant kites floating over the audience and the biggest snow globe you’ve ever seen will make you gasp in wonder and laugh until it hurts.
“Air Play” will be presented at McCarter Theatre Center on Saturday, May 11, at 7:30 p.m. in the Matthews Theatre.
“Air Play,” a visual poem using no words, lives on the edge of definition: part comedy, part sculpture, part circus, part theater. To audiences around the world, the wonder and discovery of “Air Play” are bold reminders of childhood and growing up.
The Acrobuffos’ “Air Play” is a poetic ode to friendship.
The husband and wife team behind Acrobuffos, Seth Bloom and Christina Gelsone, met at a circus in Afghanistan, became engaged while street performing in Scotland, married in China and occasionally go home to New York City.
Bloom spent his childhood in Kenya, India and Sri Lanka. His college years were interrupted multiple times with national tours as a juggler and silent comedian. He worked extensively in Afghanistan with the Mobile Mini Circus for Children. Bloom received his MFA in London for Lecoq theatre technique and co-founded Split Knuckle Theatre, a five-star physical theater company. He is a graduate of Wesleyan University, Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Clown College, Dell’Arte School of Physical Theatre and LISPA (MFA). He has performed in 30 countries and 49 states.
Gelsone grew up in Texas and has worked in 40 countries as a non-verbal clown, stilt walker, mask performer, juggler, puppeteer and acrobat. Previously a ballet dancer, she majored in Shakespeare at Princeton University and studied corporeal mime at the Dell’Arte School of Physical Theatre. For many years, she worked with New York City-based Bond Street Theater in multiple post-war zones. Other professional adventures include starting a social circus program in Egypt, creating curriculum-based comedy and teaching at universities.
Since 2005, the couple has created seven shows together, competed in international circus festivals, performed in more than 25 countries, headlined at the Big Apple Circus and were featured on a postage stamp. “Air Play” merges their circus and street theater performance art with the sculptural artistry of Daniel Wurtzel.
“’Air Play’ is a modern circus, but circus in a very different style than people may have experienced before,” Gelsone said. “We call the work a poem to childhood because when you read a poem, you put yourself into it. The show is the same way. This a show without words and the less we say, the more the audience sees. It’s a visual poem for everyone to experience.”
“Air Play” will be performed by Acrobuffos in the Matthews Theatre on Saturday, May 11, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $25 and are on sale now online at mccarter.org, by phone at 609-258-2787, or in person at the McCarter Ticket Office, located at 91 University Place in Princeton.