The circus is coming to town, but it isn’t Ringling Bros. Through Sunday, Feb. 24, the College of Arts + Architecture’s Department of Theatre hosts a physical comedy duo from Ireland for an on-campus residency and performance.
Jaimie Carswell and Pablo Ibarluzea are graduates of the Jacques Lecoq School in Paris, a renowned training ground for mime and improvisatory theatre. In addition to master classes and workshops for students, the pair will perform the award-winning “vegetable circus,” Cirque de Légume, Wednesday, Feb. 13, through Sunday, Feb. 17, and Wednesday, Feb. 20, through Sunday, Feb. 24, in the Black Box Theater of the Robinson Hall Center for the Performing Arts. Shows begin at 7:30 p.m., except Sundays, which are 2 p.m. matinees.
A spoof of the Cirque de Soleil extravaganzas, Cirque de Légume features Carswell and Ibarluzea, a single chair and a box of cast-off vegetables. The result is 55 minutes of pure mayhem and what may be the silliest circus in history. Called “The Greatest Vegetable Circus on Earth” by the Irish Times, the show features acts such as the Leek of Power, the Vegetable-Animal, the Magical Carrots, the Knives of Arabia and the Onion Strip Tease.
Cirque de Légume won the Bewleys Café Theatre Award in Ireland and the Special Jury Prize at the 2011 NY 1st Irish Theatre Festival. The show has toured extensively and received rave reviews.
“The duo…are such consummate physical comedians that their execution never fails to be funny,” wrote the New York Times. "Cirque de Legume is a must-see, whether you love or hate vegetables,” according to the Associated Press.
Tickets are $14 for general admission, $9 for faculty and staff and $6 for students and can be purchased at the Robinson Hall Box Office or online.