Entering the Main Hall at Summerhall feels like you’re part of an elaborate Yoga class as Ashtar Muallem sits on the floor doing a live warm up while chanting in Arabic to the sounds of circling a metal bowl before her show Cosmosofficially kicks off.
Already mesmerised by this slight woman, whose limbs are as elastic as the bands she uses to stretch her body in preparation for the ascent of the aerial silks that hang behind her, the audience is simultaneously regaled by her flow of words. Pulling faces as well as her limbs, Muallem tells us that Cosmos is partly inspired by her belovèd grandmother as she narrates the tragic history of her native city, Jerusalem.
Muallem manages this with an impish humour, balancing the severity of her story with her core theme of harmony and oneness that is expressed through a physicality so remarkable that it verges on the incredible. She speaks with an engaging directness sometimes from breathtakingly challenging physical positions that she sustains with apparent ease. Her slender figure belies her strength if not her agility, and her ascent and manipulation of the silks is done with a delicate mix of command and surrender.
Her combination of delivering a powerful political message laced with supreme physical skills and humour makes Cosmos a unique experience that is enhanced by Gregory Adoir’s dramatic sound design. Muallem’s engagement with the audience is in play throughout the performance, making this an intimate and engaging experience but those of a shy disposition may want to avoid the front row!
Cosmos, a collaboration between Palestinian aerial acrobat and contortionist Ashtar Muallem and French circus artist Clément Dazin, who expertly directs the show, premiered in Marseille in 2021, when it was performed in French, while a version in Arabic premiered in Ramallah in 2023. This English version is the show’s UK premiere.
Both Director Clément Dazin and Ashtar Muallem appeared separately at the Fringe in 2015 when Dazin presented Bruit de couloir in collaboration with Crying Out Loud and Muallem co-devised and performed in B-Orders with the Palestinian Circus. They make a most welcome joint return in 2024 with Cosmos.
Venue: Main Hall, Summerhall,
Dates: Thursday 1st to Sunday 11th August at 9.15pm
Running Time: mins
Age recommend: 12+
Irene Brown
Radio Summerhall Arts 