Review of The Actors Gymnasium's Quest

Once upon a time I went to a show and it was called Quest. It was written and directed by Leslie Buxbaum Danzig. The circus choreography was by Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi with Tommy Tomlins. It was about a girl named Robin (Kate Braland) who was on a quiz show with three other kids (Emerson Caitlin, Ezra Danzig, and Sadie Sims) and they were sent to a magical land after asking the hardest questions: what is the most important time, who is the most important person, and what is the most important thing to do? There is a king (Amanda Crockett) who is trying to become the best king by answering those questions. They come across a lot of obstacles and people on the way to see the hermit (David Corlew) who is supposed to have the answers. I never thought I would see circus inspired by a Tolstoy story, but it really worked. I thought this was a really fun show with amazing circus performances.

There was a really cool scene where the king had a monologue about how he wanted to be the best king, his ideas about the questions, and the different strategies he would use to become a better king. But he had a lot of anxiety about messing up. The entire time that the monologue was happening he was tossing a hat from one hand to another and rolling it off his head to his arm to his leg and back to his head. Then other hats get added in until the king is juggling a bunch of hats and making each throw precise. It was amazing and mind-boggling to watch. He seems like he is juggling around a lot of issues in the monologue as he is juggling around a lot of hats.

I really liked the hermit trapeze number. The hermit and Robin were doing a trapeze act and trying to talk to each other about the three questions at the same time. I really like trapeze and I think two person trapeze is amazing to watch because you see the cooperation they have to have with each other. They had these moves where the hermit was trying to put Robin down on the ground, but Robin really wanted to stay up on the trapeze. It was awesome because it looked like there was a chance that she could fall but then she would get pulled up again and she would be totally fine. I think it was really amazing to watch them arguing as it was more death-defying because they were high in the air. They eventually learn how to cooperate with each other.

I thought it was really cool how they used kids and teens in the show. I really liked the jumprope section. They would have people flipping over these big jump ropes and it was really awesome to watch. They also did this drumming section where there were three people around each drum and occasionally one of them would run off to run with Robin. I thought it was awesome to have live music (by Kevin O'Donnell) done by the performers. I also liked the part where they used the jump ropes again but they didn't use them in the traditional sense, they used them as doorways, which I thought was really cool.

People who would like this show are people who like jump rope, hermit trapeze, and juggling hats and issues. I think that people should go see this show. It is a lot of fun and very exciting to watch. I think it would be fun to see with your entire family and I really liked it.

Photos: Cole Simon