Review: Stunning Story-Filled Acrobatics Make Passengers Worth the Trip

Ever feel like public transportation has you cartwheeling through crowds, juggling your belongings, or twisting your body like a contortionist to fit into a seat? The 7 Fingers, a circus and dance troupe from Montreal, knows how you feel. Tent poles, silks, and trapezes become metaphors for the journeys of life with the dazzling Passengers, now at the Perelman Performing Arts Center.

Passengers takes place on a train, with each of the travelers (Sereno Aguilar Izzo, Kaisha Dessalines-Wright, Marie-Christine Fournier, Eduardo De Azevedo Grillo, Marco Ingaramo, Anna Kichtchenko, Maude Parent, Michael Patterson, Pablo Pramparo, Méliejade Tremblay-Bouchard, and Will Underwood) conveying their characters through acrobatics, movement, and circus acts familiar and new.

They zip through the air on silks and ropes, tumble and flip across the stage, and juggle balls and humans. There are also moments of charm and sometimes pathos, when the cast performs songs about love and the search for identity. Transitions between acts in circus shows are often awkward, but here they are seamless, creating a show at a crisp 90 minutes that flew by just like the performers themselves.

The concept of the show is solid enough. These passengers act out the stories of our lives: some are falling in love, others are breaking up, some seem to be in identity or existential crises, all played out in the liminal space of a train ride. It’s not always the most clearly articulated; I’m not totally sure if the performers were playing the same characters throughout or if they shifted from scene to scene. But it successfully gives the show deeper meaning to ponder as we take in the feats of strength.

The most intriguing sections dive into the relativity of time. One passenger explains Einstein’s theories using a train getting hit by lightning. Another, in an amusing, Twilight Zone-like turn, stops time to make mischief out of her frozen seatmates. But this theme is dropped by the end. It would have been interesting to see it go further, especially when one passenger suggests that trains are capable of time travel. It feels like a missed opportunity to have even more fun. The performers are already pushing the limits of what the human body is capable of—why not dispense with reality all together by jumping through a hoop to the past or nosediving down a pole into the future?

But it’s hard to fault Passengers for not going in a completely metaphysical direction when what’s already there is so stunning. Not enough positive things can be said about the 7 Fingers, who focus on the “arts” in “circus arts.” The feats are astounding, but the performers obviously place a premium on making them look beautiful as well, holding their bodies in balletic poses that convey emotion even more than athletic prowess.

There are almost as many moments that are breathtaking for their artistry as there are for their physical impressiveness. The production elements increase the wonder even further. The direction and choreography by Shana Carroll are impeccable. Gorgeous lighting (Éric Champoux) and music (Colin Gagné) enhance the emotional journeys as well as the stunts.

With an evening of acrobatics and artistry and hardly a misstep, Passengers will delight all ages and shouldn’t be missed.