Edinburgh Fringe 2024
Rollercoaster
Wes Peden
Genre: Circus, Physical Theatre
Venue: Assembly Roxy
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Rollercoaster is a hip, modern, punk-influenced, juggling show with some props that are rarely seen in this genre. Juggler Wes Peden brings an imaginative and very difficult high-level performance of spellbinding manipulation. This is juggling like you have never seen before.
Review
Rollercoaster is a hip, modern, punk-influenced, juggling show with some props that are rarely seen in this genre. Juggler Wes Peden is back to the Fringe after an eight-year absence with an imaginative and very difficult high-level performance of spellbinding manipulation. This is juggling like you have never seen before.
There is something very magical when the performer becomes one with his instrument. Tall and slender, he is extremely limber. His props, whether they are clubs or balls or tubes, essentially become an extension of his arms and legs. He contorts into challenging positions as he ingeniously plies his art, juggling around his body, under his legs and more. He is part clown, part gymnast, part acrobat, part dramatic actor, and part ballet dancer who has mastered his choreography. Every move is intentional and exact. Every routine is highly-practiced. This is more than a juggling show. It is a piece of art.
Peden bases the show on roller coasters, those giant momentum machines. He knows his roller coasters, and tells us that 3000 of them are no longer running. This program is a tribute to those fantastic rides.
The production values are inventive and effective. Clubs, balls, teeter boards and prop bins are in bright, florescent colours. The original music serves to enhance the modern stylings, with electro beats composed of distorted rollercoaster sounds. Pulsating rhythms from a percussion track raise the energy level for the performer and the audience. Sound effects match the stage action, including the sounds of a roller coaster. The lighting design is effective in highlighting the drama of the program.
The show ventures far beyond what you would expect to see in a juggling performance. There are the performative balls, rings, clubs and plate spinning. But all of those are employed in unique ways and highlighted with unusual and giant props. Now add tubes in all shapes and sizes, including a four-meter transparent tube that makes balls spiral around Peden’s body. The huge blue inflatable tubes remind you of a rollercoaster.
Has he heard of gravity? I think not, since he is constantly defying it with complex and breathtaking routines. The clubs are juggled so high into the air as to nearly hit the theatre ceiling. His body is totally fluid throughout the performance, showing strength and flexibility.
Peden is serious yet playful. He uses the platform to show about finding the balance between freedom and security.
Peden was born in the U.S and currently lives in France. He was taught to juggle at the age of five by his father, artist and performer, Jeff Peden, and they started performing together when he was eleven. Penden has performed around the world from Olympic stadiums in Tokyo to Broadway theatres in NYC and Glacier Museums in Iceland. He has performed in over 25 countries. He has won awards from the International Juggling Association and the festival Cirque de Demain. He has been voted the world’s most popular juggler in the Top 40 Jugglers poll ten times and he holds numerous world records. The show is produced by Gandini Juggling, which works at the vanguard of contemporary circus, reinventing and reinvigorating juggling for the 21st century.
Punk meets pop meets props meets one of the best jugglers in the world. Put on your seatbelts and come for a thrilling rollercoaster ride.
