‘DIn family-friendly circus shows, children are often warned, “Don’t try this at home.” But… This prank Age 3 and up Taiwan Season The problem is that most of the action is based on familiar domestic pranks but taken to acrobatic extremes: fights for cushions, races to claim the sofa and grudging tidying up – all lampooned by 0471 Acro Physical Theatre. Have you ever tried polishing a floor whilst doing a handstand?
The set-up is similar to Hoopla Clique’s raucous two-person play Chores, a past hit at the Assembly’s elegant Piccolo Tent. Three siblings, left behind by their parents, bicker, sulk, engage in wordlessly competitive antics, and take turns ganging up and outdoing each other. There’s group piggyback rides, birthday celebrations, and three-person tower formations, sprinkled with old-school Broadway flourishes from Cheng Xue Sang, Ling Xia and Wei Chue Wu, whose craft is truly mesmerizing.
Accompanied by whimsical music, the prank spreads to the front rows and eventually the entire auditorium of the Piccolo Theatre, as young children have their feet tickled with feather dusters and older kids are given bubble guns to show off their shooting skills.
The Fringe has its serious circus shows, but this is a silly yet spirited 50 minutes. Apart from a sad-faced interlude, there’s little change in comedic tone, but the frenzy builds towards the end. Far from trying to perform the trick at home, young audience members will be clamoring for their own giant lollipops (the centrepiece of one outrageous scene) and stylish pyjamas decorated with pockets of dinosaurs, cats and pigs.
