Gluttony & Highwire Events & Entertainment. The Octagon at Gluttony. 7 Mar 2018
Red is the colour of power, passion and sensuality, and Rouge has all of that. On entering The Octagon there are warning signs about adult themes, and this show has them in buckets. There is much flesh on display: tight chiselled men and voluptuous lithe women. There is ambiguous sexuality. The show is cheeky and lusty, but its not sensationalist or gratuitous. It’s just plain fun but it’s not a complete winner, because there is unrealised potential.
Circus has become a significant part of the Fringe program, and over the years there have been some exceptional acts. Rouge is good, but it doesn’t rise to the same heights as say La Soiree or Soap. Rouge comprises an eclectic range of acts: fire eating, balancing, aerial, tumbling, dance, burlesque and singing. It’s fast paced with all acts set to a toe tapping suite of up tempo songs that form both a backdrop and a quirky but intelligent rationale for the acts. When this works, the show is at its best, and most naughty!
The red diva singing coloratura soprano lines while harbouring an androgynous guy and a voluptuous woman beneath her skirts is a case in point. It was titillating and naughty and edgy! (What were they doing to her?!)
The small amount of audience participation was risqué, thankfully, and it was oh-so-funny and well scripted. We wanted more of that, and less of the traditional circus acts. (Why bother with fire eating when Fuego Carnal is just around the corner in another venue doing the same stuff but a hundred times better and more spectacularly.)
The hard stuff is always in the title. It’s Rouge. It should be sexy and edgy and fun – all of it.
Kym Clayton
3.5 stars
When: 7 to 18 Mar
Where: The Octagon at Gluttony
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
