Adelaide Fringe. Presented by Gravity and Other Myths, and Aurora Nova Productions. Royal Croquet Club – The Panama Club. 15 Feb 2014
Go and see this one - all the advertising can be believed. They’ve been to the Adelaide Fringe before and won awards in 2011 and 2013.
This is human physical circus with a difference. Yes there are the usual dazzling displays of agility and strength, and drop dead buff gorgeous bodies to die for, but it’s what it doesn’t have which makes the difference.
As the name of the show suggests, everything is stripped back to the bare essentials. The set is nothing more than a stage (suitably padded and sprung of course) and some simple lights. There are no dazzling costumes or makeup or special effects as we have come to expect in other circus acts. This show is really minimalistic, but there is nothing minimalist about what the troupe of eight gets up to.
The program is a celebration of playfulness. Competition and one-upmanship amongst the troupe is a consistent feature of the sequence acts. The games include a rapid skipping competition, for which the guys strip down to their underwear, and the last man standing goes all the way, but with his back to audience in deference of his modesty and presumably to stop the hearts of the ladies (and some of the men?) in the audience from fluttering too rapidly!
Then there is a holding breath competition with one guy standing on his head and not permitted to move until the winner is determined. And another skipping demonstration, where this time the rope is a person! Swinging from the high bar is always impressive in gymnastic competitions, but what if the uprights are comprised of stacks of guys?
Even the muso gets in on the act and becomes a human percussion machine.
It goes on. It’s an action packed sixty minutes filled with breath taking displays of human physicality laced with liberal amounts of understated humour. It makes you feel great to be alive!
Kym Clayton
When: 15 Feb to 9 Mar
Where: Royal Croquet Club – The Panama Club
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
