Dashing across the Meadows just after 12, we were welcomed very nicely to the Beauty Tent – sans Purple Cow Udders – for the daily show by the Trash Test Dummies. Having heard good things from other families who do the Fringe, we were both looking forward to a proper ‘show’ after yesterday’s slightly disappointing outing.
There’s a definite Australian thing going on this year, with at least two of our five shows from down under – not that I’m complaining. I get the feeling that children’s entertainment and theatre is taken a lot more seriously in other parts of the world than here.
Act: Three young male circus acrobats/clowns/very clever guys, wearing a variety of denim dungarees with nothing else apart from boots, three large wheelie bins, lots of gags, music, skill and energy.
Summary: There’s no narrative as such – Kitty (currently addicted to Penguins of Madagascar) announced they were like Skipper, Kowalski and Private, so there are definite characters that they play. They lark about, have small sketches accompanied by appropriate music (a ballet class one was among my favourites) (no really), there’s a lot of being deliberately silly and a bit of getting the grown ups to laugh too, with the theme tune to The Great Escape and Batman likely to pass most kids by.
Props: Big wheelie (trash) bins, more bins, lots of balloons, many small plastic balls that get thrown into the audience, juggling batons, hats, a ladder, more balls. I think you could add the dungarees to the list of props as they certainly work hard.
Performance: High energy, whole hearted and done with just enough of a nod to the grown ups. I think it’s a fine line and they only just stay on the right side, but that’s ok. At one point, Skipper (as we called him) pops up without the upper part of his dungarees – Kitty found that a bit embarassing – ditto the pretending to be wearing superhero underpants (you’ll see). They worked HARD for the whole time and managed to make it much more than just a show of extremely good juggling, acrobatics and circus skills. They are definitely comedians, in the best sense of that word. Best of all, they weren’t scared of being silly – and wearing dungarees (excellent choice) – which gave them a real edge and lack of self-consciousness that I think the kids really enjoyed. Hell I enjoyed it – particularly their freestyle dancing. There were LOTS and lots of belly laughs from boys and girls, all ages, some parents particularly enjoyed being down at the front.
Take Home Message: Having fun is good. There was a bit of a thing about friendship in spite of laughing (and slapping) people but certainly not in a hugging-and-learning way. Probably the main message was “go find a gymnastics class and you too can be cool if you work really hard”.
Miss Kitty Review: “I thought it was awesome. Best show I’ve ever seen apart from Brush – it was almost as good as that. I liked the guys who were like Skipper, Kowalski and Private [Ed. This is high praise folks]. My favourite bit was when they thought their friend was dead and then they saw him and slapped him a lot, that was very funny. I liked the one with the beard most, he was like daddy. [Ed. only vaguely, as daddy no longer has a beard]. I think everyone should go see it, it was very funny. I got a bit embarassed but it wasn’t bad. It was very loud and I thought my ears might die but I laughed a lot.”
ASD/SEN Notes: As you will have gathered, there’s a lot going on in this show! The venue is accessible but only just – mobility needs can get in through a ground floor entrance and sit in the front row (although this means you will be engaged with at some point – don’t let that put you off). Otherwise, you are up about 8 steps and the seats are very small, ranged around a horseshoe shape over 8 tiers. I was frequently bumped by the person in front stretching backwards, much to our mutual annoyance. There is plenty of space and it feels quite open. Big lighting rig, and lots of lighting effects: not a strobe but very bright white searchlights, plus lots of coloured lights moving around. There is a smoke machine about three quarters of the way through. There is a lot of music and at one point I realised that it was setting off my ears too, so I was amazed that Kitty coped. Perhaps turn it down just a notch. There are no big bangs or flashes. NB: at one point a character has a bin bag put over his head, and at another he has ping-pong balls (and later a harmonica) in his mouth. I have to admit to freaking out a bit & making clear immediately that he was a skilled circus performer. I do have visions of small ADHD boys all over Scotland jumping into stinky bins and getting really badly hurt.
Miss Kitty rating: 20/20, definitely awesome
Mama Scissors rating: 17/20 – points lost for safety issues, excess noise and selling us a tiny plastic bin with a bag of haribo and a Trash Test Dummies sticker, which I had no way of avoiding on the way out.
Another go see, from the SSS review team.
p.s. a very neat trick – get the audience to help tidy up by turning it into a ball-collecting mosh pit at the end. Very smart.
