[2015166] Fully Furnished
Them @ Gluttony – The Peacock
4:00pm, Sun 15 Mar 2015
I’d already committed to seeing the final performance of Nautilus later in the afternoon, so I had filled the gap after A Simple Space with the first show that had fit on The Shortlist… which just happened to be Fully Furnished, another acrobatic performance. Which seemed awfully unfair, in retrospect: there’s very few troupes that can hold a candle to Gravity & Other Myths, in my eyes.
Them (the company, not bad grammar) attempt to weave a bit of a narrative throughout this show, but it really comes across as an excuse to use some kitchen furniture and whitegoods as props for their tricks. Set in a share house, theatrical elements include housemate flirting, food theft, couch potatoes, and that one couple that always get on everyone’s nerves with PDAs.
But it’s the furniture of the share house that provide the hooks for Fully Furnished: the old couch, capable of swallowing people whole, provides a creative way to shuffle people around scenes. The kitchen table serves as a surface to slide across and tumble beneath. The fridge is a good place to stash performers between scenes.
The circus, acrobatic, strength, and balance elements of the show are solid – there’s no half-arsed performances here. But once you get past the narrative-driven visual style, there’s little in Fully Furnished to differentiate itself from the pack (except, maybe, the quirky ping-pong ball mouth juggling segment – that was certainly unexpected)… but at least it’s all delivered with confidence and enthusiasm that would probably make this show a winner in any other environment.
(166) Fully Furnished: Quirky themed acrobalancing, with some creative mouthy ping pong ball action. #ff2015 #ADLfringe
— Pete Muller (@festivalfreakAU) March 15, 2015