Clown; Circus 

Words: Trudy Lynn 
Image: Alex Guillaume

3 Stars 

Step into a Moomin-esque winter wonderland. Watch two endearing furry guys navigate a sensory world of pulsing glowing globular lights, acrobatics and smoke. Enjoy the soundscape and piano-playing. The set and music are beautifully whimsical and both create a world of wonder. It’s a gentle and calming circus show and exhibits a wide range of talents from juggling, piano, gymnastics, diabolo, tap dancing…  

Where Glob shines is in the surreal dreamlike world building and when the performers break the fourth wall, reacting to the noises from children in the audience. It’s unspoken but the performers make plenty of sounds which can be interpreted as words and are enjoyably repeated by the kids. It’s emotional and expressive and tells  a story through circus arts. 

The tech really is beautiful and delightfully sensory whether it’s the globular lights changing colour to suit the vibe or the smoke shielding a character entering. And the performers are clearly very talented at all their circus skills and as expressive clowns. 

However, the whole piece somewhat overstayed its welcome, running a full 10 minutes over time quite late in the festival and it wasn’t engaging enough to keep the attention of the many young children in the room. Each segment and transition could easily have been shortened. The aim was for slow wondrous fun but it was perhaps  too slow in its search for expression and one character’s constant petulance somewhat undid the wonder. If it had kept to its allotted hour, it might well have been close to perfect. 

Glob
McEwan Hall at Underbelly, Bristo Square
15.00
5-30 Aug