By Suzanne Tate
Duck Pond was a captivating experience, combining the tales of ‘Swan Lake’ & ‘The Ugly Duckling’ with breathtaking acrobatics and circus arts. The creativity in the amalgamation of these two stories in such an effective and entertaining way, with the added drama and interest provided by the acrobatic choreography, made for a mesmerising performance.
The show is divided into 3 acts – Act 1, set in the palace as the prince searches for a romantic partner. He meets and falls for the Ugly Duckling while cleaning up after an improbable pillow fight. Reality intrudes – such a pairing would not be suitable, and the Black Swan enters to win over the Prince. Act 2 occurs at the lake. As the Ugly Duckling and the Black Swan vie for the Prince, the duckling evolves to fly as a beautiful swan. A delightful twist to the traditional Swan Lake ending leaves the Prince confused.
Both Act 1 and 2 use the acrobatics and circus arts, such as the Tissu, Aerial Hoop, and static trapeze in symbolic ways that help develop characters and tell the story, as well as keeping the audience in a state of awe at the performers strength and skill.
In another unexpected twist, Act 3 is set in the Theatre, as the cast get changed and ‘bump-out’, breaking the fourth wall as they interact with the audience. This Act is full of overt humour and energy, filled with physical comedy and further stunning examples of the cast’s strength and acrobatic skill.
Every minute of this show is entertaining, not just because of the impressive physical performances, but because of the engaging characters they create through their facial expressions and mannerisms. The performance showcases the skills of each cast member, not just prioritising the four main characters: the Prince, the Ugly Duckling, the Black Swan, and Cupid, who manipulates the entire tangled situation.
These characters are identified primarily through their slightly altered costumes – Cupid wears black and white and has wings – one white and one black. Her tutu also mimics the structure of an Elizabethan ruff. The Ugly Duckling wears an actual Elizabethan ruff, along with a pair of trunk hose. The Black Swan is first seen wearing a black tutu in a similar Elizabethan style and red high heels, reverting to a sparkly black bodysuit in later scenes. The Prince’s costume evoked the silhouette of an Elizabethan doublet, accompanied at times by a simple crown straight from the pages of a children’s fairy tale. When playing the swans, the rest of the cast wore either black or white bodysuits, sometimes featuring similar exaggerated shoulders as found in the Prince’s costume. When portraying the ducks, they wore amusing costumes featuring sparkly yellow flippers, oversized yellow trousers with braces as might be worn by a clown in a traditional circus and a yellow cap with a tinted yellow visor. Visually, the costumes, designed by Libby McDonnell, were as much a mix of ballet, acrobatics and circus as was the physical performance.
Duck Pond was created (along with the Circa ensemble) and directed by Yaron Lifschitz, who was also responsible for the stage design. The set was simple, but highly effective. Surrounded on 3 sides by walls of fabric ribbon, the cast could enter at any location, not bound by the traditional location of the wings. The fabric could also be lit in any colour or projected upon. It was aesthetically appealing and created a defined space on the stage for the performance, which added to the shock when in Act 3 this barrier fell to the stage floor to reveal the entire undressed stage as the cast lifted tape and mats from the floor and removed their costumes.
The musical accompaniment, designed by Jethro Woodward, was also a creative blend of the various tales. Distinctive elements of the music from Swan Lake were woven throughout the orchestral soundtrack, sometimes subtly, more prominently at appropriate moments of the story, in a very effective way.
Duck Pond was an exhilarating theatre experience combining strength, humour and death-defying stunts to tell a new story woven from the familiar components of two beloved classics.
Image: Pia Johnson
