Irvine Barclay Theatre Presents PSY, Now thru 5/13

Irvine Barclay Theatre presents PSY, the newest and largest production from the Montreal based circus troupe Les 7 doigts de la main which translates literally as "The seven fingers of the hand" for four performances only, tonight, May 10 through May 13.  Les 7 doigts de la main is most known for their international hit Traces.
 
Tickets, from $25-45 (plus premium), can be purchased online at www.thebarclay.org, by calling 949-854-4646, ext 1, or in person at the Box Office at the Irvine Barclay Theatre at 4242 Campus Drive in Irvine.  Patrons under 30 years old can receive special pricing available at www.thebarclay.org or in person at the box office.
 
For their fourth creation, Les 7 doigts de la main (7 Fingers) delves into the richand surreal underworld of the human psyche.  While the previous shows from the Fingers took the audience to a single space and time, with a single cast of characters PSY, travels through a shifting landscape of distorted visions, fading dreams and fractured memories.
 
PSY was created in 2010.  As with their previous work La Vie and Traces, 7 Fingers found that the juxtaposition of dark and complex themes with the joyful and celebratory language of circus made for a rich artistic experience.  The show merges acrobatics of the body with acrobatics of the mind and soul.
 
The action of PSY starts in the quiet of a psychiatrist's office as the voices in a man's headinstruct him to climb on a trapeze and hang by his toes.  The show continues -- in the clammer of a busy intersection, an OCD patient is jostled through the traffic, his attempts to avoid contact leading him to perform acrobatics across a sea of pedestrians.  One woman, while confronting agoraphobia, is lead to swing through the air, and another man searches for his own identity in a crowd of masked faces, all upside down, balancing on their hands.  Insomnia, addiction, amnesia, paranoia, hypochondria; juggling, Chinese pole, German wheel, aerial rope, teeterboard are all a part of PSY.