TEEN-AGE ‘MUR-MUR’-INGS : Quebec’s Acrobatic DynamO Theatre Uses Nonverbal Teen Talk as a Jumping-Off Point

Most adolescents are masters of the unspoken word, especially when it comes to dialogue with parents. Language, they’ve found, can get you into trouble; better to keep your mouth shut and hope for clemency.

The problem is that sometimes, particularly during parental tete-a-tetes, the adolescent brain forgets to send the message to the rest of the body. Arms cross, feet tap, eyes roll; the mouth may be still, but the rest of the parts are screaming “ Let me outta here! “

The DynamO Theatre company of Quebec uses adolescents’ flair for the nonverbal as a springboard for “Mur-Mur” (The Wall), an original family-oriented production that blends humor, music and a performance style a troupe member calls “acrobatic theater” to portray the high-voltage emotions of adolescence. Recommended for ages 5 to adult, “Mur-Mur” makes its Orange County debut Monday and Tuesday at the Irvine Barclay Theatre and next Friday and Saturday, Oct. 22 and 23, at Saddleback College in Mission Viego.

According to company representative John Lambert, “Mur-Mur” offers a glimpse at “that journey outside of childhood and into adolescence (when a young person) is learning how to assert oneself as an individual.”

DynamO Theatre was founded in 1981 by a group of creative artists that includes Pierre Leclerc, a former Olympic gymnast and co-founder of the National Circus School of Montreal, which has produced artists for both DynamO and that better-known Canadian export, Cirque du Soleil. Although there is no formal association between the two, Lambert said that several DynamO members, himself included, have previously worked with Cirque du Soleil.

“Mur-Mur” takes its name from the show’s central image, a 10-foot-high, 20-foot-wide imitation brick wall. The work, which made its debut in 1987, was inspired by a 1980 installation by John Ahearn and Rigoberto Torres in New York’s South Bronx area. In Ahearn and Torres’ piece, life-sized figures, seemingly frozen in time as they went about their daily activities, were installed on a tenement wall.

“Mur-Mur,” one of several original works by the company, has toured theaters and children’s festivals across North America and in several European countries. The production is on the road 10 or more months each year and is reworked at least once a year when cast members change.

“This is quite different from a second string road show . . . in that, in a sense, it gets better as we go along,” Lambert said during a phone interview from the troupe’s Montreal office. “We are discovering an art form, and we’re trying to go a little farther with it all the time.”

In “Mur-Mur,” five actor-gymnasts portraying a pair of boy-girl couples and a pesky younger brother perform acrobatic feats on or in the shadow of the wall as they “discover love and best friends and first crushes,” said Lambert. Dialogue is used sparingly, he added.

“One of the reasons this show has a wide age appeal is that it is constructed on our abilities as an acrobatic troupe,” he explained. “It’s good for young children because they can see the action and instantly grasp it. There are no big words to understand.” Ralphie, the younger brother character, is a special favorite with pre-adolescents, he added, because “any time it gets a little smoochy, you can always count on Ralphie to come in with Slinky eyes or juggling scissors.”

Teens are a rougher audience, admitted Lambert.

“You wouldn’t think (teen-agers) would identify with something this innocent . . . but what happens is they grab onto the physicality of the show and before they know it, they’re emotionally involved. Our goal is to make this an experience that belongs to them.”

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What

“Mur-Mur” by DynamO Theatre of Quebec.

When

At Irvine Barclay Theatre Monday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. and Tuesday, Oct. 19 at 11 a.m.; at Saddleback College Friday, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 23 at 11 a.m.

Where

Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine. McKinney Theatre at Saddleback College, 28000 Marguerite Parkway, Mission Viejo.

Whereabouts

To IBT: From the San Diego (405) Freeway, exit at Jamboree Road and drive south. Turn left on Campus Drive. The theatre is at Campus and Bridge Road. To McKinney Theatre: From the Santa Ana (5) Freeway, exit at Avery Parkway and drive east. Turn left on Marguerite.

Wherewithal

Tickets are $6 to $9. Parking is $3 at IBT, free at McKinney Theatre.

Where to call

IBT, (714) 854-4646; McKinney Theatre, (714) 582-4656.