The Defiant, the latest creation by Rogue and Rebel director Elena Kirschbaum, opens with seven female and non-binary acrobats performing on a pole- an apparatus traditionally associated with scantily clad or unclad women. The Defiant isn't that kind of show. The performers, faces painted and dressed in dystopian garb, swiftly and symbolically dismantle the pole, then, to the soundtrack of drummer and multi-instrumentalist Rachel Trainor, demonstrate that anything men can do, they can do better.
Some early segments of The Defiant garnered a flat response from the crowd, but Clare Bindoff's capacity to alternate between acting as the steady base of a human tower and flying high on the trapeze and the aerial silks was spectacularly versatile, while every appearance of former Cirque De Soleil artist Shona Morgan was impressive. Trainor's music was consistently engaging, with her cover of Dusty Springfield's You Don't Own Me while Anna Fisher spun the hoops and Bones UK's What A Waste Of A Pretty Face as Lucy Tan juggled with fierce attitude serving as highlights.
The camaraderie of the cast, their support for each other, was palpable; when Morgan and Bindoff flung from the trapeze, the only safety net was the remaining five artists, lying beneath them like a pile of human pillows.
The Defiant is a norm-defying, paradigm shifting circus.
Four stars
By James Murphy
Gluttony Highwire Entertainment #adlfringe #adelaide