Performed by dysfunctional characters, and set in a dilapidated circus, vaudeville-like show The Candy Butchers keeps its audience engaged, but rarely enthralled.
A quartet of characters – two angry, two sad – perform a blend of clowning, balancing, hoop tricks and aerial acrobatics. There are some truly impressive moments in which the whole audience gasps as one. The highlight is an incredible sequence with a straightjacket which is just about worth seeing in its own right. But there aren’t enough of these moments to fill the hour-long show. Instead there is a fair bit of standing around in preparation, vamping on less impressive, more run-of-the-mill stunts, or glaring at the audience to illicit applause.
That said, The Candy Butchers is never actually dull. The performers provide a lot of energy and are clearly all skilled in certain things – burlesque for this lady, comedy for that gentlemen. When the show gives them time to play to their strengths, these characters really shine. One of the men holds the audience in the palm of his hand as he delivers a melancholy monologue about lost love, accompanied by rope tricks. One of the women could hoola-hoop for her country. And don’t be fooled into thinking hoola-hooping is a kids’ trick – this is impressive stuff!
On the whole though, the show doesn’t find a way to keep this virtuosity flowing from section to section. There are just a few too many dropped catches and fumbled passes, and often a strong item is paired with a less-exciting one, so that the audience is distracted from an impressive balance by somebody on the other side of stage pushing a ball around.
Even when a stunt is particularly impressive, and is given the space it needs on stage, it is often just performed cold. There is no setup, no premise of a story or explanation about why the character is attempting it. This makes it hard to get involved in the drama of the circus. It is a struggle to connect with the characters at all, and often hard to become invested in whether their tricks work out. A case in point are the two angry characters. While we get a lot of back story about the man, we are never given the slightest clue why the woman is such a shrew. Indeed, the only moment which focuses on her exclusively is a saucy burlesque dance. This is, admittedly, quite entertaining and I will never look at fairy-floss in the same way again. But it hardly gives a premise for 50 minutes of on-stage rage.
There are many good moments in The Candy Butchers. There are a lot of impressive stunts and funny lines (it’s worth mentioning the straightjacket on more time). But unfortunately they are bogged down by the slower sections in between.
Strut & Fret Production House present
The Candy Butchers
The Garden of Unearthly Delights – The Big Top
15 February – 17 March
Adelaide Fringe
www.adelaidefringe.com.au
15 February – 17 March
