In rain, Cirque Eloize shines

Summer rain looks so magical in the new Cirque Eloize show at the Irvine Barclay Theatre that rain-starved Southland theatergoers may start booking flights to Quebec, the home of this little troupe, or to anywhere that experiences summer thunderstorms.

The company is opening a new show, with its emphasis on precipitation, in a dry July in Southern California. But maybe we can appreciate the company’s artistry all the more because of our climate.

The program slyly begins with an introduction in which we’re led to believe that the rain references will be strictly figurative. This theater isn’t capable of making rain, one of the young performers claims.

And so pieces of paper fall from the sky in the midst of the opening tumbling act, and then again at the end of the first act, accompanying a teeterboard routine. The performers stop what they’re doing to read them. We ponder what it could be that draws their attention away from the hustle and bustle of their acrobatics. But the paper seems like a symbol for the actual rain that director Daniele Finzi Pasca describes in his program note.

Suddenly, as the second act nears its final stretch, we catch a glimmer of splashing as a young woman on a suspended ring touches the ground. Within moments, the entire stage is immersed in a few inches of water, and more of the wet stuff begins to fall from above.

Soon the cast is playing in the rain: tug of war, hopscotch, soccer. The exquisite lighting, designed by Martin Labrecque, slowly begins to fade, as if the sun is setting. The soulful, melancholic recorded music swells. The effect is of a bittersweet memory of a golden moment from youth, before the cares of adulthood have impinged on raucous outdoor play. And then the daylight is gone. The stage is dark. Curtain call time.

This troupe’s more famous and larger rival, Cirque du Soleil, also knows how to use water -- has, in fact, created an entire show around it -- “O,” in a Las Vegas casino. It’s possible that “O” inspired Cirque Eloize to investigate aquatic possibilities.

Certainly this one scene doesn’t come close to the magnitude of “O.” Yet for sheer heart-tugging artistry, it’s the equal of anything in “O.”

Cirque Eloize specializes in creating some of the same effects as Cirque du Soleil, but with far fewer resources and more restrained spectacle. Labrecque’s lighting is an example of this: His emphasis on pinpointing performers in small pools of light against relatively dark backgrounds seems spartan. But by the end of the show, the lighting illustrates with stunning clarity the maxim that less is more.

The circus acts themselves aren’t especially out of the ordinary: tumblers, jugglers, contortionists, hand balancers, trapeze artists whose daring isn’t quite as dramatic on a theater stage as it is under a higher big top. Comedy is laced throughout the show without obvious clown acts, perhaps most notably when an incredibly flexible woman is packed into a suitcase and hauled offstage under protest.

The cast is often dressed in costumes that look like old-fashioned swimsuits, a choice that becomes more comprehensible after the finale. The pre-recorded music is supplemented by Benoit Landry at an upright piano that enters into the action in unexpected ways.

The ambience is artful throughout. But it’s the finale that’s truly unforgettable.

*

Cirque Eloize

Where: Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine

When: Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 2 p.m.; Sunday, 1 and 6 p.m.

Ends: Sunday

Price: $30-$35

Contact: (949) 854-4646

Running Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes