Oh, to be young and fit and horny in Brooklyn. The Circuit, a unique immersive dance performance performed on the streets of Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood, celebrates the omnisexual joie de vie of a certain set of Gen Z urbanites. The audience (about 30 at my performance) is outfitted with headphones that play a dance-centric original soundtrack (by Jacob Ryan Smith) as well as the prerecorded dialogue and inner monologues of the six performers we meet in various locations over the course of 75 minutes.
We’re first introduced to a petite woman (Manatsu Aminaga) near the neon-lit archway under the Manhattan Bridge as she contemplates finding romance on a night out in the city — and soon stumbles on a handsome bisexual twink (Luke Swaller) who’s all too happy to flirt with her in a series of coordinated dance moves choreographed by Josh Zacher, who co-directed the show with John Kroft. We then follow Swaller’s all-too-fickle young man as he enjoys a bare-chested, athletically danced fling with another woman (Tessa Fungo) — this sensual pas de deux is the sexy standout of the whole show. And then we follow Fungo’s confident woman as she meets up with her longtime partner (Gigi Hausman), whose jealousy drives her into the buff arms of a guy (Fabricio Seraphin) who turns out to be the twink’s boyfriend.
And so it goes, with the addition of at least one more hookup partner (played by the aptly named Kurt Horney at my performance) who favors a leather harness over a shirt and executes a series of lifts and coordinated jumps and leg extensions with Seraphin in front of Jane’s Carousel in Fulton Ferry Park. We finally reconnect with Aminaga’s still wide-eyed newcomer as she dances a lovely solo beneath the Brooklyn Bridge while looking across the East River to the lights of downtown Manhattan’s skyline.
Yes, the show is loosely inspired by Arthur Schnitzler’s 1897 partner-swapping drama La Ronde. It also brings to mind the 2018 production Stars in the Night that led theatergoers through the cobblestones of Dumbo as well as some storefront locations as actors played out a convoluted story of love and loss. The Circuit focuses less on narrative or character development, instead offering a kind of cobblestone-sidewalk disco ballet with one of the most enchanting backdrops imaginable. There’s a kind of elegant simplicity to the show that insinuates you in the action as a bystander, tourist, and member of a secret club moving through the neighborhood among non-headphoned passers-by.
Given the nature of the performance, it’s best to leave the stilettos at home. There’s also some light cardio involved to keep up with the performers, but non-dancing crew members in high-viz vests direct you to the various performance spots. They carry glow sticks as well as handheld spotlights to illuminate the dancers, who regrettably sometimes start their routines before everybody has had a chance to catch up. (There are downsides to having a prerecorded soundtrack.)
There’s a youthful glow to the cast and the concept that matches the charmingly lit neighborhood where it’s set. (The cast, which performs the show three times nightly, needs all that twentysomething verve.) “This is how movies start,” Aminaga’s newcomer tells us at the start of the show just after she’s caught the eye of Swaller’s doe-eyed lothario. “This is how people end up married… or murdered. But mostly married.” In their romantic roundelay of fleeting encounters and shattered relationships, The Circuit captures the feeling of a youthful generation who’s is new to the city and ever-alert to its possibilities. They still possess the sense, one that all too often fades over time and experience, that around every new corner you might find true love or memorable sex or just a fun night out. ★★★★☆
THE CIRCUIT
New York Theatre Company at Dumbo’s Superfine, Brooklyn
Running time: 75 minutes (no intermission)
Tickets on sale through Sept. 7 for $65 to $75