Hoop-la! Scintillating hijinks that mix circus tricks with comic burlesque! Of recent years, perhaps following growing discomfort with the concept of performing animals, circus has come of age, revitalising legit theatre with a radical new form of social commentary that does not rely on words.

The three performers in Cabaret meets Chaos are graduates of the two-year diploma course at Christchurch’s Circo Arts. ‘Circus Arts’ embraces a wonderful mixture of street theatre, acrobatics, juggling, balancing, trick-cycling, and of course clowning, and Louise Kerr, Rowan Ford Davies, and Shelley Dingwall are very proficient exponents indeed. Theirs is a clever, funny, and thoroughly professional show.

There are no pretensions to portentous themes, but the skits are loosely linked by the efforts of Kerr, as a gawky female police officer, to impose some sort of order on a bizarre world. She enters on a unicycle, doing tricky things with balloons, and is joined by the amazingly fit Davies as a Strongman, and the amazingly flexible Dingwall, who is produced from a suitcase (yes) dressed as a sexy nurse.

To a continuous music soundtrack, sometimes perfectly suited to the action, sometimes a bit odd, they swing confidently into a brilliantly controlled series of sketches that showcase their skills. One of the most charmingly silly of these is a droll duet by Dingwall and Davies, that mimics synchronised swimming.

An erotic chair-dance, and strip-tease down to nipple-tassels, puts one uncomfortably in mind of those performing animals again, so it is a relief and delight when the gawky ladycop, after reprimanding the showgirl, decides she will also attempt a daring strip-tease. Now this is true burlesque, a delicious parody of sexual allure, and Louise Kerr has the perfect facial expressions to make it riotously funny.

Part of the fun of Fringe, is discovering all the fabulous venues Dunedin has hidden away. This time it is Sammy’s, which once was lovely old His Majesty’s Theatre, hosting the big melodramas in the gold-rush years. Good to see it is still used for popular theatre, albeit on a smaller scale. Certainly Fool of Fun Entertainment have earned their popularity at this Festival.
_______________________________
For more production details, click on the title above. Go to Home page to see other Reviews, recent Comments and Forum postings (under Chat Back), and News.

Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer