Passengers

The Company in a scene from The 7 Fingers’ “Passengers” at the Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC) (Photo credit: Alexandre Galliez)

Montréal’s physical theater troupe The 7 Fingers has made their third visit to New York with Passengers and the wait has been worth it. Using circus events, music, dance and monologues, Passengers follows nine travelers who perform as their train travels across the country. Like Cirque du Soleil, the varied acts are all unified by a theme, but The 7 Fingers is more intimate in scale and eschews clowns, giving the nine acrobats, gymnasts and circus artistes more and more daring acts to do. As the journey continues, the performances become more breathtaking and demonstrate the versatility of the cast.

Beginning with suitcases mixed up on the platform, the cast takes their seats on a train. One by one they find they can’t sit still and begin performing both for themselves and for the entertainment of their fellow passengers: acrobatics, hula-hoops with increasing numbers of rings, aerial silks, juggling with more and more balls in the air, contortion, duo trapeze, hand to trapeze (which combines balancing with duo trapeze), aerial straps, aerial hoop, and Chinese pole (on which performers, climb. slide and hold poses). Beginning with ground acrobatics, the show continues to aerial events getting more breathtaking and difficult as the trip progresses. As The 7 Fingers does not use nets, the tension rises during the later acts. In between there are songs both new and classic (like “You Do Something to Me” and “This Little Train.”) Periodically one of the performers addresses the audience with a theory or a story like Kaisha Dessalines-Wright’s tale of Einstein on a train being hit by lightning.

Sabine Van Rensburg in  a scene from The 7 Fingers’ “Passengers” at the Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC) (Photo credit: Cimon Parent)

Among the comic episodes is a traveler who confuses the others by moving the belongings of the others around. Johnny Ranger’s projection design helps us see the parallels between traveling and circus acts: the aerial acts are often backed by telephone and power lines as the performers crawl up poles or fly through the air. Performers work together and separately as if some of them are on this journey together. The show ends as it began with all of the cast seated as though they are in the station.

Passengers is written, directed and choreographed by Shana Carroll, the inventive co-founder of The 7 Fingers in 2002, who was also responsible for the equally ingenious circus acts for the Broadway musical Water for Elephants in 2024. Each of the performers specializes in one form or entertainment of another. The talented international cast is comprised of Kaisha Dessalines-Wright, Marie- Christine Fournier, Eduardo De Azevedo Grillo, Marco Ingaramo, Anna Kichtchenko, Maude Parent, Michael Patterson, Méliejade Tremblay-Bouchard and Will Underwood who are not introduce until the final curtain.

Anna Kichtchenko and the Company in a scene from The 7 Fingers’ “Passengers” at the Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC) (Photo credit: Alexandre Galliez)

The design team is completely attuned to the production style. Ana Cappelluto’s seemingly simple set design turns luggage carts into railroad cars, and avoid the elaborate décor of Cirque du Soliel. The casual costumes by Camille Thibault-Bédard work both for travelers and for the gymnasts and acrobats of The 7 Fingers. Éric Champoux’s lighting is often magical. The haunting original music by Colin Gagné with lyrics by director Carroll and composer Gagné is lovely and helps define the different scenes. Passengers is a delightful, awe-inspiring evening quite unlike any circus you have ever attended along with some philosophical thoughts about travelers and journeys.

Passengers (through June 29, 2025)

Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC)

For tickets, visit http://www.pacnyc.org

Running time: 85 minutes without an intermission