In Limbo’s audience, Limbo will be fucked constantly. Cast members stare towards the crowd with flirty smiles or a few glances. On stage, there is continuous flirting between the actors. Even the clowning show is a couple taking off endless layers of clothing before having sex. This is a cast that knows precisely how sexy and hot they are and a show that understands the exact amount of sexiness.
With a touch of Vaudevillian style, Limbo can be described as a modern circus based on dance, music, and circus elements from the past 100 years and bringing them all together in a performance that allows all disciplines and performers to be given the opportunity to shine. From Danik Abishev’s leaping in a single-arm handstand from pole to pole to the ferocious speed and skill in Hilton Denis’ tap-dancing, it’s an endless stream of the force and potential that the body of a human.
The performers play with the crowd: Heather Holliday runs a flaming torch through her thigh while three men in shirts slide over the audience with swinging poles that are close to our heads to grab glasses and a booklet.
The main focus of Limbo the band’s main focus is Sxip Shirey’s musical composition and direction. At the same time, he is wearing a white suit with feathered accents and a flurry of grey curly hair. The design blends and crosses musical styles ranging from banjos played by ragtime to modern indie-pop love songs.
His work is most thrilling when drums, beatboxing, harmonica, and sousaphone combine to create a unique and unique mix of sounds. It’s like Eastern European brass band and New York hip-hop. Shirey, along with his team’s irresistible energy, is matched by the enthusiasm of circus performers, bringing the power of the performers to the crowd.
It’s not a show where you’ll witness a false beginning or an artist resist a trick to make their feat appear to be more impressive. They are never less than confident in their skills. As we sit in our seats and watch Philipp Tigris contort his body or Holliday take swords and swallow them, Limbo doesn’t present these feats as something that is beyond everyday life; it rather seems to inquire from its audience why they aren’t able to do them as well.