The Swedish circus two-hander Soft Spot, performed by Stina Otterström and Arttu Lahtinen, uses wine glasses for acrobatic tricks rather than music. The show begins with the performers offstage and what sounds like the high-pitched notes of a glass harp, but the glasses – first six of them, then dozens – become the props for a series of increasingly intricate duets.
Strength meets fragility
Otterström, a handstand artist, has her strength immediately contrasted with the fragility of the familiar yet hazardous props. Her first inversions involve holding the stems between her toes, passing them from one foot to the other, or balancing their bases on her soles. Lahtinen, a juggler, offers variations on the tablecloth pull-trick and the buzz wire game, balancing glasses on planks of wood that he glides perilously close around Otterström's body. Empty glasses are expertly slid, tossed, stacked and stood upon.
A restrained hour
This restrained hour, presented by OLO Company and Cluster Arts, could sometimes benefit from more of a showperson's – or even a sommelier's – flair. The abundantly skilled pair remain demure throughout, with just the odd glance or smile acknowledging their feats, and occasional teasing amid their steadfast reliance on one another. For too long it plays in one register, without quite enough variation in Mika Forsling's nevertheless appealing music. Any notion of narrative or autobiography is absent, which is not necessarily a problem when embracing a fuller variety of tricks and tones – as in Compagnie Nyash's remarkable Stoel, with a duo and 15 mismatched chairs that take on their own personalities. It's harder to achieve with identikit glasses.
Fizz among the tricks
If a richness of mystery or ritual is absent, the fizz among the tricks includes the mock-solemn arrival of a brush to tidy up a breakage, unexpectedly supplemented by a pile of broken glasses. That crunchy noise is much more atmospheric than an earlier recorded sound effect. These shards are eventually swept around the stage to form a striking surround for the final tricks, performed barefoot and dramatically lit by Jaakko Sirainen. That stylish sequence would sparkle alongside other cabaret acts – and the wit in the duo's curtain-call speech shows this pair could create a happier hour. Soft Spot runs at Zoo Southside, Edinburgh, until 30 August.
