[2015056] How we stopped the end of the world : The adventures of Broer & Zus (brother & sister)
Eloise Green & Sam McMahon @ Royal Croquet Club – The Black Box
2:00pm, Sat 21 Feb 2015
Broer & Zus – Dutch for “Brother & Sister”, as indicated in the title of the show – are quirky twins who’ve emigrated from the mountainous regions of Europe to Australia. Eloise Green & Sam McMahon aim for charm with their characters, but there’s something about them that keeps them at arm’s length; it’s almost like they’re too quirky, or that the stereotypes they’re aiming for are alien.
Or that I’m too old.
Broer & Zus compare life at home and life in Australia through drawings, projections, and puppets; they also spend ages describing their first day at school. All these stories come across as incredibly twee, and there seems to be an incredible amount of effort into making everything as inoffensive as possible. There’s also a smattering of basic circus tricks, attempts at comedy that fail to engage (maybe because the youngsters in the audience can’t fathom the accent), and songs that rely on Broer & Zus’ mismatched voices for entertainment.
Look – The Adventures of Broer & Zus is clearly aimed at an audience much, much younger than me. Like, over forty years younger than me. They may have been able to find something engaging in this show, but I sure struggled.
(56) How we stopped the end of the world- The adventures of Broer & Zus: Gentle kids acropuppet show that lacks impact. #ff2015 #ADLfringe
— Pete Muller (@festivalfreakAU) February 21, 2015