My initial reaction to Deadly, which is concerned with the Seven Deadly Sins, was that the depiction of the sins was too subdued and not nearly lurid enough. I suppose I was thinking they should be presented with the dark flamboyance that seemed to surround them in medieval times.

Luckily, Deborah Pope’s approach to Pride, Wrath, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Avarice and Sloth is more subtle and more interesting. The sins are only deadly when they are taken to extremes and what Deborah Pope and her two performers, Virginia Molina and Rodrigo Osis, explore so well and so subtly are the stages of the descent when morally acceptable behaviour (pride in one self, for example) becomes a sin.

Even so, while Rodrigo Osis dazzles with his work on a Chinese pole, seemingly defying gravity and exulting in his skill and vitality and though he is clearly depicting Pride, I was lead to wonder why such virtuosity is a sin in the world depicted on stage where God does not seem to have a presence. The same thought occurred to me during the sinuous dance-like twisting and turning of Osis and Molina as they slid over each others bodies high above the stage in a strange erotic dance.

There’s a simple, beautiful and magical scene in Deadly when the woman tells a caller on the phone, in the only piece of dialogue in the hour-long performance, that she is alone in her house. She says this to annoy her partner in the room and this makes him angry and they fight. She retaliates and then escapes and takes to a trapeze on which she loses herself in a dream-like world of golden glitter while Sun’s Gonna Shine in My Backdoor Someday plays on the soundtrack andthe man is busily scooping up the gold off the floor.

And, of course, it is all told through athletic mime and exhilarating circus artistry punctuated with lyricism (heightened by Nik Janiurek’s lighting), and backed by a soundtrack that ranges from classical to techno music. Physical theatre doesn’t get much better than this.
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They start back-to-back: Rodrigo Osis and Virginia Molina. Their movements are minimal, as is their awareness of each other… Is this repose or Sloth? Fascinatingly their two bodies throw just one large shadow on the wall (superb lighting from Nik Janiurek). Is that a snake coiling round her neck? Or does he have many hands …?

The shadow bifurcates … She smells him, licks him, tastes him, bites him … He condones, then reciprocates … They become Gluttonous … maybe with a touch of Lust … Despite being separate now, their togetherness is paramount.

But now he’s up a pole – a Chinese pole, conducive to grip; not a dancing pole for sliding up and down. He slips and brakes; climbs, twists and twirls; stretches outward from hands only then likewise from feet … God he’s good. Is he showing off? Of course: Pride.

Her practical then sensuous washing at a tin basin attracts him … They tease each other … here comes more Lust – but when they fool around on a trapeze it’s their mutual trust that makes it riveting. This is simultaneously gorgeous and heart-stopping.

Interrupted by a phone call, which she takes, telling the caller she is alone, he is provoked to jealous Wrath – and she reciprocates.  It’s a passionate fight …

Biting her thumb at him, she takes refuge of the trapeze and loses herself in a solo space of pleasure … Where’s the sin in this – is she too greedy for it?  Glittering flecks fall from the sky – she showers in them … But he, in a suit and briefcase, avaricious, scooping them up … More Gluttony.

They reunite on dual poles where she plays hard-to-get … This is another stunning display of skill that is all the more compelling for expressing so much about their volatile relationship.

The finale scene is very domestic. He’s reading the paper, she’s bored and wants his attention … Sloth v Envy?  She develops a close relationship with a bottle of wine, suggesting what she really wants is a baby. But he remains immersed. Ironically, the paper he retrieves to continue his maddening indifference is a supplement: ‘Life’.

Directed by Deborah Pope, this decade-old piece – originally developed in Brazil – is a richly textured hour of physical theatre. Rather than looking as if the ‘story’ has been developed to demonstrate circus skill, their skills are employed to explore the relationship.

It recalls, in some aspects, Gary Henderson’s Skin Tight. Indeed given both shows are an hour long, someone they could be mounted as a double bill. What a night that would be!
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Note: For technical reasons this needs to be differentiated form the March season, hence ‘Return season’ – but sickness reduced its debut to one performance only. This, then, is your chance to see it.
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This two-hander is an extremely physical work with some outstanding circus virtuoso performance and potential for a deeply dramatic theatrical journey.

Upon entering the auditorium the first thing I notice is a man and woman standing back to back onstage near the entrance. Immediately after this observation I am startled by a hyperactive usher warning that there are bad sight lines virtually everywhere in the seating block except there and there. Is this part of the show? He doesn’t quite seem to be a clown…

Once the show gets underway (having been seated in an acceptable spot), I can see why the viewing provisions are so awkward. Deadly is a circus/dance/theatre piece that uses almost every inch of floor space, frequently lying down or rolling, (though at times spread out between two climbing poles or swinging from the two trapezes), of this queer space that is the Downstage Theatre.

Mise-en-scene, besides the circus apparatus, includes a table and two chairs with assorted cups and bottles on it, stage left, and an old-fashioned copper tub far left by the stage entrance (I had to stand to see the scene involving this from my posi).

The name “Deadly” is an allusion to the Seven Deadly Sins, giving us a clear expectation of where the show might go. We are not disappointed in this expectation and the journey through the sins is fairly straightforward, making for a good, clear framework from which to work routines, choreography, solos and duos, whilst providing a visceral and spicy dramatic relationship between the pair of characters. 

Nevertheless, my ideal would be for the dramatic journey to go beyond ticking off the sins one by one (I hear myself thinking, “He’s getting pretty fired up just now… right, so there goes wrath…”). That said, there is plenty of juice to be got from this couple’s performance talent.

These two (Rodrigo Oses and Virginia Molina playing characters ‘Man’ and ‘Woman’), have a delicious stage relationship. It is a connection that doesn’t really need to try – there is an ease in it. In these roles the performers lick and chew each other (gluttony), spit at each other and perform aerial manoeuvres with a fluidity that belies an intense familiarity with one another. This rare connection is one of the most satisfying aspects of my experience.

Their feats of individual brilliance are no less wonderful however. Highlights for me include the man’s pride dance on the pole, which is sensational (and it doesn’t seem sinful to be that full of yourself if you can do all of those daring falls, swings and slow, strength moves!) 

Another would have to be the delightful swinging trapeze number by the woman while gold dust falls to the ground. This piece fills the audience with warmth, bringing the only ‘circus-style’ round of applause in the show. To me it is like the most joyous abandon of a child, having a fairy-tale freedom and aesthetic as flying limbs send falling gold dust eddying in flurries. I later learned that this portion denoted avarice, which to me was only apparent by the man scooping some fallen dust into a briefcase.

The final scene, from ticking off the sins on my fingers, has to be sloth. Man and Woman sit at a table – Man reading the paper and Woman looking frustrated until she goes into a rolling dance with a wine bottle and then looks frustrated some more. A dramatically weak sin to finish on. Several folk around me comment that the work didn’t seem to really finish. Is there a suggestion that the story just goes on?

My overall feeling leaving the theatre is one of light warmth from having seen some very high calibre circus. If you love the form and professional execution of this sort, and the archetypes thrown up by beautiful, strong, young bodies, this show will pay your expectations handsomely, (only one night in Wellington this time around – two were cancelled due to illness –but I believe it is to tour). 

For me, the moments when the show really threatens to ‘open me up’ are not verified by an overall dramaturgy that deepens this hermetically sealed (apart from a phone call that sends Man into a rage) world of archetypal co-dependency.

I would love to see this piece with more hints of story beyond the depiction of the sins (but not too much more!) and a stronger finishing note. Perhaps these wishes will organically evolve as the work is repeated through several seasons.

At any rate, Deadly is well worth the night out to see such a gorgeous couple of excellent circus performers.
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