Physical Theatre / We’re Home, Warehouse Circus. At Canberra College Theatre. Until May 5. Reviewed by SAMARA PURNELL.

Guest youth group from Circus Monoxide opened the show, We’re Home, with a short act using a table, chairs and a mix of classical music (The Blue Danube Waltz and Moonlight Sonata) and contemporary music.

In keeping with the narrative framework of moving out of a house and into a new one, this posh family and their servants performed a series of lifts, holds, bends, balances and flexibility demonstrations, from the littlest member, clad in flapper dress and pearls, to the older cast members.

In a flurry of action, the piece included traditional circus elements of hula hoops and juggling sticks. They also played with the drama and acting side of circus. An energetic and well-appointed addition to the production.

Piled on to a couch, the cast of Warehouse Circus debated on which TV channel to set the audience to. With enthusiastic participation and a decision to leave it set on the clapping channel, they got underway.

The first half involved packing up a house to move – made all the more lively and fun when the items are juggled, couches dived over, and tables slid across and used to backbend off.

Three female members performed a trapeze act, striking interesting and impressive poses. Hoops of relatively small sizes, balanced atop each other were used to pass and dive through, all executed easily and cleanly. A well-synced routine on chairs was a creative distraction from packing boxes.

A ball routine, set to plucky music, was lively and entertaining and cleverly choreographed – a bit like watching a human version of “which cup is the ball in?” after mixing them all around. The performers swapped places mid-juggle, with seamless transitions, in an impressive display of skill and concentration.

An acoustic number with guitar and vocals was performed live as the backdrop to a silks routine, before a hoop display to the song Cooler than Me created some really nice effects and illusions. The synchronicity was missing from this act and a couple of attempts were required to execute the tricks.

A confidently performed see-saw act to Great Balls of Fire was a highlight, showcasing slick acrobatic flips and somersaults with well-executed landings. A brilliant display of human swings and towers closed the first half of the show.

The second act opened with a cacophony of music and saw the troupe moving into a new house and concurrently obsess over the acquisition of a bucket of cookies, which were hung from the ceiling during a silks routine. The three performers scurried up the silks with impressive speed and energy.

The following missions to retrieve the cookies involved balancing acts, ensemble work and humour. A delightfully comedic piece set at a mass sleep-over had the cast jumping in lines like lemmings and play-fighting with pillows. A hat trick routine was more laborious, despite the skillful balancing and spinning of a coat rack.

Performers were thrown into the arms of cast members hanging, (for a long period of time) from trapeze, creating wonderful, gravity-defying poses and eliciting gasps from the audience. This was one of the highlights of the show. A hectic juggling display performed by the ensemble wound-up the performance, just before a tray of cookies saved the day. The cast piled on to the couch to consume said cookies, which would have nicely ended the show on a high-note, but the momentum dissipated as another acoustic number was performed while members munched away.

Some fade ins/out of recorded music may ease the abruptness of transitions. Unable to assign the cast list to specific performers it was clear the troupe’s male leader provided a calming presence and the physical strength and experience to perform and guide with ease and flair.

Although the finesse and transitional work is yet to be developed by these young performers, the lifts, balance, flexibility and team-work demonstrated here is heading towards the professional standards witnessed earlier this week in Circa’s production. And while young bodies have not yet developed the evidence of years of training, their stamina and strength are already on display.

What a wonderful opportunity young people interested in this form of physicality are afforded with Warehouse Circus – a safe and supportive environment in which to grow, fail at times, and develop circus skills along with stage presence. Audiences can witness this emerging talent at the same time as being genuinely entertained and impressed in a family friendly production.