Comedic lighter-than-air show set at Eccles Theatre

The clown duo of Christina Gelsone (left) and Seth Bloom (right) get literally wrapped up in their artistry while performing the visual poem 'Air Play.' The national touring show will debut at the Ellen Eccles Theatre in downtown Logan on Sept. 7.

LOGAN – The National Touring Season at the Cache Valley Center for the Arts will kick off Sept. 7 with a one-night stand of Air Play, a surreal journey into the realm of physical comedy propelled by wind.

The visually captivating show will be performed by Christina Gelsone and Seth Bloom, a clowning duo who have dubbed themselves the Acrobuffos.

Air Play is a sophisticated hour-long performance that dances playfully on the edge of simple categorization. It’s part comedy, part sculpture, part circus and part theater, but always thoroughly entertaining.

More than a decade ago, the pair of street-theater performers were inspired by the work of kinetic sculptor Daniel Wurtzel, who pioneered a new form of visual art by propelling huge strands of colorful silk into the air with strategically placed electric fans.

The result of their subsequent combining of clown play, poetic mimes and the physics of air pressure is what Ms. Gelsone describes as “a philosophical expedition into what air is.”

That is, if you view umbrellas flying, fabrics soaring over the audience, balloons swallowing people and confetti dancing in the air as philosophy rather than sheer fun.

Theatrical critics have called Air Play “… a wordless, visual poem that brings the very air we breathe to life.”

Without dialogue, Air Play is ideally suited for international performances and the Acrobuffos have certainly capitalized on that strength. In recent years, they have performed the show in London’s Royal Festival Hall, the State Theatre in Melbourne, Shanghai’s Grand Theatre and equally prestigious venues in Chile and the Netherlands.

“Ticket prices for the CacheARTS national touring shows vary,” according to Alex Nelson, the marketing director at the Ellen Eccles Theatre in downtown Logan. “Discounts are available for children aged 5 to 12 (50 percent off), students (25 percent off) and groups of 15 or more (15 percent off). Patrons who purchase tickets to three or more shows will also be eligible for a 20 percent discount.”

Tickets for Air Play and other touring shows are now available online and at the CacheARTS ticket office.

The Cache Valley Center for the Arts is an independent non-profit organization that promotes the use of Cache Valley’s publicly owned cultural arts facilities.

Those facilities include the Ellen Eccles Theatre, the Thatcher-Young Mansion and the Bullen Center.

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