There’s a minimum of physical stage dressing, stripped-back costumery, and only a couple of pieces of equipment in Circa’s Humans 2.0. That lack of adornment only highlights the power of the physical performance on display in this excellent hour of acrobatics, where the lines between gymnastics and contemporary dance blur to a thumping soundtrack.
Humans 2.0 is by turns impressive, thoroughly engaging, and well worth seeing
The performers switch between ensemble pieces and high-flying individual sections, throwing each other around and defying gravity in continuously impressive feats of physicality. The pace is relentless, and the execution of the action very rarely falls short of excellent. Although much of it is played with a very straight face, there are welcome moments of levity mixed into the action too.
While the flips, handstands and spinning swing work are impressive, the trust that the cast displays for each other is remarkable. There are no safety nets or soft landings on offer as people are flung around in some of the most extravagant and high-stakes games of a leg and a wing that you are likely to see in your lifetime. Bodies are thrown and caught as trust is rewarded, allowing the performance to become more than the sum of the people taking part in it. Much like the impressive human towers that they create, the effect of their combined efforts is striking.
Gymnastics has a long and storied history in entertainment. "It is well known that the exercises of jumping and vaulting in the air are not only demonstrations of great physical skill but also prized entertainments,” wrote the Renaissance big-shot tumbler Archange Tuccaro in the 16th century. It turns out what was true in 1599 is just as true in 2024. Humans 2.0 is by turns impressive, thoroughly engaging, and well worth seeing.
