Duck Duck Bang a splashy, flashy, aerial spectacle

Monday, 15 October 2007

Whoever named the Mighty Ducks movies and hockey team was definitely onto something, but can even the mightiest duck withstand a huge explosion? The answer to this question is given in Duck Duck Bang, a stunning, energetic, and colourful spectacle by Edmonton’s Firefly Theatre. It combines aerials, dancing, music, theatre, physical stunts, and colourful costumes and props to serve audiences a visual feast that’s more delicious than juicy game roasting on a spit over a fire.

The story in Duck Duck Bang is very simple: a delightful, nerdy man (played to comic perfection by John Ullyatt) loves his rubber duckies and sets off to rescue them when they disappear. The premise seems a bit odd at first, especially because the man’s attachment to these ducks is never explained. Regardless, the man loves his ducks, and that’s all that matters. Ullyatt’s facial expressions depict every possible emotion the man feels towards those ducks, and his performance is pleasingly over the top. We want him to get his duckies back even though we don’t know exactly why he has them in the first place—that becomes irrelevant once the performance takes off.

The play is full of other colourful and interesting characters. A man who sells hypoallergenic pillows via cheesy infomercials winds up being integral to the plot, as do a gaggle of blues-singing, bike-riding, pillow-fighting sorority girls. A cute girl sporting a colourful, polka-dotted skirt draped over layers of crinoline rollerblades around the set, sometimes holding a kite. A stunt artist walks around on his hands.

On the stage, a band performs upbeat, jazzy tunes, and let’s not forget the tiny yellow rubber duckies who squeak and whisper into Ullyatt’s character’s ear as he tries to sleep. The result is a fun and colourful medley of characters and props who move and speak with tremendous energy and humour.

But those are just the people who perform (mostly) on the ground. A show can’t be aerial theatre without taking to the air, and it’s in acrobatics that Duck Duck Bang really delivers. The four acrobats take flight as they perform intricate acrobatic feats normally reserved for shows like Cirque du Soleil; this artistic fusion creates a unique style of physical theatre.

The aerials are daring, visceral, and visually stunning, and almost everyone gets a turn in the air; even a couple of characters who remain on the ground for most of the show later need to resolve their differences above the audience, which sits in a theatre-in-the-round configuration, adding to this three-dimensional performance.

In addition to being a superb visual feast, Duck Duck Bang also incorporates music, dance, and some loud bangs into the show. However, when the band’s music was blasting a bit too loudly into the theatre, it crossed the line from aurally pleasing to sensory overload. The audience is forewarned that some loud noises would occur—the play has its share of bangs and smashes—so people who are sensitive to loud noise will likely find themselves reaching for their ears at certain moments and during a couple of the higher-decibel musical numbers. The music and sound effects are all very good, however, and contribute very well to the overall feel of the show.

After seeing this performance, people will likely look at rubber ducks in a whole new light. An amazing marriage of theatre and aerial arts, this Duck Duck Bang is pretty mighty after all.

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