Official Reviewer of the Sydney Fringe at CarriageWorks
Review #4 The Famous Maurice Flea Circus
LAST SHOW TONIGHT, THURS 23 SEPT @ 6PM
By Diane Wanasawage

Oh, life can be simple and oh-so pleasurable! Who needs Avatar’s “performance capture” technology, stereoscopic cameras or swollen multi-billion dollar budgets when you can behold such simple pleasures in acrobatics, physical humour and shadow puppetry with overhead projectors?

This is the stuff that leaves you warm and fuzzy and James Cameron would learn a thing or two here.

First show, did I hear you say? Well you looked kind of nervous at first, I do admit. But after a few claps, a few more laughs, you knew you had a relationship with us that you could trust in. In turn, you relaxed, showed more of yourselves and I think, you and me, we shared something didn’t we?

I like a good bum joke – no, not that kind. I mean the kind that drew milk through your nose when you were four. This is a family show, where the mums and dads laugh harder than the kids. Its characters are cute, earnest, very likeable. And they can do…stuff! They can make a human pyramid, they can juggle, they can hula, and they can climb up poles with their bare hands!

There is a nod to shows of yesteryear, with slap-stick humour, quaint costumes, and music where you can identify all of the instruments. Did you mean to make me so sentimental, so reflective about days gone past?

After the show, I came out of the toilet into the foyer area. For those that are not familiar with CarriageWorks, there are a number of cushy benches, the size of single beds, scattered throughout the venue for your seated convenience.

A boy who had obviously enjoyed the show as much as I had, was rolling around tumbling on these, first on one and then on the other, in a sequence of movements that I could not help but think resembled some of the acrobatic tumbles in the show.

It appears you have inspired another generation there. Well done. I’m off to practice my cartwheels.

DATE & TIME Thursday 23 September, 6pm
DURATION 50 mins (no interval)
TICKETS Full $24 / Conc $20 / Children $12 (+ BF)
BOOKINGS Ticketmaster 1300 723 038 or click here