LIMBO’s genesis began when Maidment became so inspired by the music of New York composer Sxip Shirey, that he practically built a show around it. “I’ve known Sxip for a long time,” he says. “His music is great for a Spiegeltent – it has that New Orleans feel to it. The music works really well on its own. We have 50 instruments on stage.”
According to Maidment, even unconventional objects can make interesting instruments. Oddball musical inventions featured in the show include a stringed instrument made from 135 amplified steel prongs, alongside a treasure trove of other sound making curios. “Some are small things, like a marble dropped into a bowl,” he says. “Each cast member plays a musical instrument, which adds to the whole atmosphere. You could come to the show and sit with your eyes closed and enjoy it nearly as much. The music is my favourite element of the show. Having live performance, it’s not like just putting a CD on. The music is really interesting and it’s not like one instrument dominates the other.”
The production’s home in Melbourne will be a brand new Spiegeltent, situated down the banks of the Yarra opposite the Arts Centre Melbourne. Considering the sheer size of LIMBO, the Spiegeltent requires strong direction to make the performance work inside the tent, measuring just under four metres. “I know the space inside out,” Maidment says. “I’ve put on lots of shows in tents. I’ve even built them. The tent is integral to the whole construction of the show. We even have sway poles where the performers dive into the audience.”
In a way, LIMBO is actually coming home. Rehearsals originally started in Melbourne when the show was first conceived. “It’s really exciting to be bringing the show to Melbourne,” says Maidment. “We played in London for eight months. We’ve done over 500 shows, so it’s a well-honed machine. The show is constantly evolving and changing over the years. For instance, we’ve recently added a new song to the top of the show and added a whole new instrumental part. It’s multi-layered, and there’s a big fat brass section. We like to keep it fresh.”
Maidment says that the production is different from other spectacles, in that the audience are very close to the performance. “LIMBO immerses the audience in a world,” he states. “You get up close and personal; go on a journey with them. You explore their journeys with the characters.” The title reflects these immersive worlds, acting as a representation of existential purgatory. “It means between worlds, between heaven and hell,” he continues. “You can read more into it if you want to. I thought about the word, about how it’s defined. It relates to the performances. We have feathers to represent heaven, and fire to represent hell. It’s a bit post-modern. What you see is what you see.”
Maidment’s own background is in performing Shakespeare, although he prefers to work behind the scenes rather than in them. “Never. It doesn’t cross my mind,” he states. Instead, Maidment says he’s always been interested in circus and creating spectacle, and in bringing the two together. A key part of fulfilling his vision was to bring together the perfect cast. With extensive experience in show business, he had a large pool of talent to choose from. “I didn’t have auditions,” states Maidment. “I handpicked some of them. Some I’ve worked with before, some are recommended to me, or I’ve seen their shows. We have three Australians in the cast. We have a performer from New York, one from France, one from Canada, one from Berlin. When this cast came together, none of them knew each other. Now they live in each other’s pockets and they’ve been doing this for three years.”
The diverse cast comes from all corners of the globe including Heather Holliday, described as a ‘Coney Island fire-breathing, sword-swallowing vintage beauty’, the French ‘gravity-defying master of the Chinese pole and beat boxer’ Mikael Bres, ex-Cirque de Soleil contortionist Tigris, the acclaimed Canadian acrobat and aerialist Evelyne Allard and the ‘astonishing and aggressive’ hand balancer Danik Abishev who grew up performing as a child in Russia where the more dangerous the act, the more money came in. Maidment states that it was putting all these talents under the one tent that guaranteed the show’s success. Garnering rave reviews, there’s no signs of waning of enthusiasm for LIMBO in sight. “People are just loving LIMBO,” he says.
BY LIZA DEZFOULI
