[20000046] Mirette and Bellini
Mirette and Bellini
The Foreign Legion (Cartoons)
5:00pm, Sun 12 Mar 2000
Score: 7
Short Review: Curious
Hmmmm.... odd one, this. One World (who brought us Quixote) present a story, strangely enough, about the fallen (literally) tight-rope performer, Bellini, and his doting friend, Mirette, who aspires to be "Queen of Cartwheels" in the circus.
In a nutshell: Mirette and Bellini meet. Mirette ("the Unreasonable") urges Bellini to re-join the circus from which he came. Bellini does not understand Mirette's compulsion. He spurns her, crushing her spirit, but then the roles are reversed as he urges her to resume her dreaming.
The cast are great - there's a real element of madcappery to their performances - and the production is full of neat touches - Bellini bursting into hideous song is most amusing, and the use of the clothesline for characterisations is superb. However, there was something missing from this play that stopped it being "great". Bummer, that, because all the ingredients were there.