Railed @ The Octagon at Gluttony, Adelaide 23/2/2019
Railed presented by Head First Acrobats at The Octagon at Gluttony was one of the anticipated big ticket shows at this year’s Fringe (they were the winners of the Best Circus and Physical Theatre Award at the Adelaide Fringe 2018)
Like Elixir in 2018, Railed also follows a narrative thread, and while they were scientists and zombies in search of the elixir of life in Elixir, in Railed they are bare chested and almost bare bottomed Midnight Cowboys following a successful heist and throwing around their Fist Full of Dollars.
There is a lot of whooping and hollering and playing for laughs Blazing Saddles style. They have a good sense of fun – they flirt and tease and have an easy risqué audience interaction, just crude enough to get the capacity house screaming for more.
As Lilli Von Shtup says in Blazing Saddles, “Is that a ten gallon hat, or are you just enjoying the show.” I think there were a lot of people enjoying the show.
These four acrobats are very talented – they juggle, conjure, balance, breakdance, whiplash, and do things with the diablo I didn’t think possible. The free standing ladder work and chair balances are some of the best tricks you will see. It’s worth the price of the ticket just to see the extraordinary Cyr Wheel tricks. The Cyr Wheel a circus apparatus that looks ridiculously difficult to master, and has become a feature in many Australian Circus companies. It says a lot for the high quality of circus and physical theatre education in Australia at the moment.
While on the point of circus education, it’s so good to see that more and more companies are weaving a narrative thread, however tenuous it may be, into their performances, and Head First Acrobats are leading the way whether it be with their risky adult shows like Elixir and Railed or with their children’s pirate show, Arrr.
This show is very risqué, so be warned, but a lot of fun if you can cope with that.
Fringe Review By Bob Becker
For tickets, show dates and times for Railed head to Fringe-Tix