LaLaLuna
Negus Productions @ The Umbrella Revolution
7:00pm, Mon 13 Mar 2006
It should be known, up front, that I’m not a fan of Cirque du Soleil; I find their brand of loosely-referential acrobatics and trickery, drowned in a sticky syrup of whimsy, quite sickening. A little like Balfour’s Frog Cakes, really – looks pretty, and is lovely – until you’ve eaten one whole, whence you’re sick to your stomach with ickiness.
Which is a shame for the LaLaLuna show – because it’s like a one-man, budget Cirque du Soleil production. Sure, there’s some great tricks in there – like the balloon stunt, in which a giant balloon is inflated, and is then climbed inside – but it’s enveloped in this sweet, smug bubblewrap that had me reaching for the vomit bag.
There’s obviously a bit more money than your average Fringe production behind this – it’s certainly not your average one-chair-prop gig – but it’s delivered a generally dull product.