★★★
Adelaide Fringe Festival. The Vault at Fool's Paradise. 21 Feb 2025
Elixir Revived is a story of medical mayhem and evil experiments. Our heroes are self-absorbed scientists searching for the ultimate elixir – one that unlocks the secret of life and all the risks and rewards that might go with that. Like much pharmaceutical research their is funded by big companies that are driven by the lure of big bucks, and so our protagonists are forced to experiment on themselves and to take risks.
As they try version after version of the elusive elixir they test their physical prowess to check their progress.
So far so good – the narrative seems as though we will be in for a display of increasingly difficult and fantastic gymnastic manoeuvres, but that doesn’t happen. In fact, what we see is a standard grab bag of circus tricks – nothing new.
Yes, the tricks are done well and with tongue-in-cheek humour, and with commanding strength athletic grace, and the troupe members are buff and fine manly specimens, but there is nothing exceptional going on. The narrative doesn’t really live up to its promise or hold it all together.
A fun show, but not the best comedic circus going around.
Kym Clayton
When: 21 Feb to 23 Mar
Where: The Vault at Fool's Paradise
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
