Fringe Circus

Trash Test Dummies

FOUR STARS

The Hogwallops

THREE STARS

La Meute

THREE STARS

Mary Brennan

all at Underbelly’s Circus Hub, The Meadows

When is a wheelie bin not a wheelie bin? The moment one or other of the three Trash Test Dummies decides that it’s really a springboard for acrobatics, a go-kart -cum - skate-board for whizzing about on, or a handy substitute for a drum kit. Ba-ba-boom – whee! Even now, adults are explaining to their kids that bins are for rubbish, not playing games in, on or with – but probably those self-same grown ups are wishing that they could be like the dungaree’d Dummies from Down-Under and create an adventure playground out of boring dustbins.

Actually, the kind of hi-jinks that Jamie Bretman, Jack Coleman and Simon Wright make look so spontaneously effortless are definitely not the kind of stuff you should try at home. Their goofing around is courtesy of some exceedingly high end circus skills: acrobatic balances, juggling, risk-taking manoeuvres on shoogly surfaces – coupled up with practised slapstick schtick – that cater entertainingly for younger audiences but please oldsters just as well. No matter how daft the antics, the Dummies don’t dumb down the content. Even the clowning capers are backed by cunningly selected musical references that range wittily from Swan Lake to the Lion King. Bin-fuls of fun, with no rubbish in sight unless the mess is part of a stunt. There’s audience participation too, ending with a sly invitation to help tidy up. Now that IS something the kids could do at home...

(until August 29)

There’s a cartoon-feel to the family life of The Hogwallops – not quite on a par with the surreal Simpsons, but eccentric enough to make us laugh at the comedic mishaps that befall them when they bake a birthday cake for their somewhat carnaptious Grandfather. He, meanwhile, has been hiding his own special treat – a banana – from the others... With not one,but two sources of potentially tricksy frolics, the Hogwallops swing into action, turning even simple domestic routines into sequences of circus daring and tomfoolery. A washing line drops down to become a trapeze, the mixing of ingredients morphs into a throwing and catching double-act where not only gravity but a recent injury is breezily defied. That banana, by the way, becomes a running gag – or at least an accessory to some lovely, endearing sad-sack clowning by Thibaut Lezervant. Yet again, a performance that is billed as a children’s show offers much more than cut-down child’s play. Lost in Translation go the whole hog when it comes to re-imagining tradition – would you ever look at a zimmer frame and think trapeze? (let alone fly high on one!) (until August 29)

It’s a moot point: what’s more outrageous – the costumes or the acts? The acts show the six guys in La Meute have well-honed circus skills. The towelling nappies they wear come close to showing their other macho credentials. At times this flirting with full-frontal exposure veers towards a distraction: instead of gasping at their derring-do on the Russian Swing, we’re wondering if the nappies will go their own way during mid-air somersaults. Russian Swing? It’s not something you’re likely to find at a kiddies’ playground. This is a mighty piece of circus kit, capable of supporting all six men on its frame, as they build up the momentum to send one bod hurtling in a parabola of acrobatic turns. However, think catapult-cum-guillotine: the lads tempt providence, and its scything edge, with pop-up brinkmanship as the empty swing flies swiftly overhead. There’s real musicianship within the group, as well as mayhem, comedy as well as daring – but somehow, you wish the guys would lose the nappies before they come on. We’d appreciate their reckless feats just as much if they wore their ordinary clothes.

(until August 29)