Climb: Friction, Tension, Gravity, and Balance

The journey of life has its ups and downs, with each stage revealing new insights as challenges are met, strengths revealed, and skills developed. Esther de Monteflores brings an amazing gift for ignoring gravity while subtly delivering a nuanced performance in four dimensions. 

Narratively played out while Monteflores emotes the convolutions of each life stage, the recorded cast does a sterling job of moving the audience through the ages. Mixing tone, gender, age and range, the five narrators (Joanna Gaskell, Harrison Houde, Andrew Senay, Christine Bortolin and Sue Sparlin) smoothly guide the journey of life. 

Aaron Read has created a unique and haunting sound-scape of original music, complete with choruses, ambient environmental cues, and subtle transitions that form a sonic skeleton that the words of writer Meredith Hambrock, and the expressive motion and lithe athleticism of Monteflores’ performance weave together. 

If you’re up for a stages-of-life performance with more than a hint of circus to it, check out Climb, at the Cultch Historic Theatre. 

Performances on Wednesday, Sept. 16 at 5:30 pm, Thursday Sept. 17 at 10:15 pm, Friday Sept. 18 at 6:45 pm, and the final show on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 1pm.