Gandini Juggling: Heka review – a deep dive into the philosophy of misdirection
There’s a quote, Sean Gandini tells us, from the French father of modern conjuring Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, which translates as: Say what you don’t do. Do what you don’t say. This philosophy of misdirection is one of the principles underlying this latest show from Gandini Juggling, a unique group that’s been plying its trade for more than 30 years. They juggle, yes, but not in the way you’d see at the circus. This is theatre, with a choreographer’s eye for the arrangement of bodies, balls and hoops, and every show is a deep dive into a new idea. In Heka, it is the art of magic. The seven-strong cast, already adept at manipulating juggling props, have learnt some impressive sleight of hand. Balls appear and disappear; they’re about to be tossed in the air then suddenly evaporate; they unexpectedly pop-up in someone’s mouth.
Sean Gandini always approaches his subjects with love and a knowing raised eyebrow. This is not exactly a magic show, more like a show about magic shows. Gandini, the master of ceremonies, tells tall tales to the audience, playing with us and with magic’s malleable sense of reality and outright deceit, but we’re all in on it. We know that he knows that we know that there’s a wire magicking that hoop that hovers as if levitating in the air. The thing is, what we go to magic for are the bits we can’t work out, the moment it steals our breath in a sudden, delighted gasp. The discombobulation of: Wow! What? How did they?! And that’s not something we really get in this more gentle entertainment, amiable rather than awe-inspiring. Perhaps part of the point is to undo the spectacle, and get our eyes tuned in to the trickery, tracking the intricate and artful skills on show.
Actually, one of the moments that feels most magical is a simple illusion: when the troupe rhythmically toss red and white balls to the sky, the lighting turns each sphere into a streak in the air; we see a solid vertical line but in reality there’s nothing there. The Gandinis’ own art already has plenty of magic within it.
