The most thrilling seventy-five minutes of live theatrical entertainment you’re likely to experience this or any year can now be had at the Ahmanson where eleven superhumanly gifted performers take death-defying flight in Duel Reality.

Chinese pole, floor acrobatics, teeterboard, hoop diving, hula hoop, juggling, aerial hoop, and gymnastics as you’ve never seen it at the Olympics are just some of the talents on display as this visiting 7 Fingers production recounts the tale of “two households, both alike in dignity” in ways William Shakespeare could scarcely have imagined.

Expect to have your mouth open wide in sheer astonishment and awe throughout the entire hour and a quarter during which Daniela Corradi, Adam Fullick, Gerardo Gutiérrez, Michelle Hernandez, Marco Ingaramo, Miliève Modin-Brisebois, Per Einar Kling Odencrants, Anton Erik Persson, Santiago Rivera, Ashleigh Roper, and Arata Urawa defy gravity again and again and again in superhuman feats of agility and athleticism that must be seen to be believed.

 It’s one cage match after another as Romeo’s Red Team and Juliet’s Blue Team engage in battle after battle, the audience divided into two red-or-blue wristband-sporting halves, though you’re likely to be so caught up in the on-stage excitement that you’ll find yourself cheering both sides equally no matter the color on your wrist.

 A pulsating musical backdrop ranging from Prokofiev to pop hits to original music by Colin Gagné adds to the excitement as does Alexander Nichols’ electrifying lighting design and the animated graphics that light up the production’s upstage video wall.

 The brainchild of 7 Fingers co-founder Shana Carroll, who wrote, directed and choreographed the whole astonishing shebang, Duel Reality is unlike anything you’ve seen at the Ahmanson, or anywhere else for the matter.

 I left the theater awestruck.

Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N Grand Ave, Los Angeles.
www.CenterTheatreGroup.org

–Steven Stanley
September 12, 2024
Photos: David Bonnet, Jim Cox

Tags: Ahmanson Theatre, Center Theatre Group, Los Angeles Theater Review, The 7 Fingers