TAL
Now–July 28
Rounding out Muhlenberg College’s 38th season of Summer Music Theater, Tal: Beyond Imagination is a world-premiere circus performance igniting the senses of audiences young and old.
Tal is a creation of the Atlas Circus Company, composed of Muhlenberg alumni who are reviving this ancient and playful art for shows that remind us what that childlike sense of wonder and delight feels like. Atlas co-founder Noah Dach teaches at Muhlenberg this year, imparting the arts of aerial acrobatics.
The story of Tal follows a young adult struggling with the eternal question: stable income or high-flown dreams? “It’s a very immersive, fun show,” says Dach, “a very surreal dream world we’re going to enter, filled with eccentric and colorful characters.”
Expect the interaction of light with aerial hoops and fabrics, lack of light with glow-in-the-dark juggling balls, characters roaming into the audience and scenery that drapes into the crowd as the show very physically cajoles the imagination to life. “It’s a wonderful dream world to enter and escape to for part of your day,” he says.
If you or your little ones are particularly fired up by the fantastical fun you’ve witnessed, a free 45-minute workshop is held after the show to give audience members a chance to try circus arts, experience movement and work with the cast. If you’re honest, you’ve always wanted to float gracefully over the heads of your family. Dach says, “Everyone gets their picture of grandma flying 20 feet up in the air.”
Whether you try it for yourself or just absorb the action, Tal is a show that will leave you inspired.
$13 | Showtimes vary | 2400 Chew St., Allentown | 484.664.3333 | muhlenberg.edu