CIRCUS!

Mr. Circus Productions—Kids Venue: MTYP – Mainstage

The visually appealing set pieces and use of lighting in this Kids Venue show sets a lovely stage in a way that is sometimes overlooked in a street performance style show. That the performer literally sets the stage at the top, however, isn’t interesting enough to justify skipping a pre-set. The show was a little slow to start and was reminiscent of how this busker likely draws a crowd for an outdoor performance, which is an unnecessary technique for an indoor theatre. Some of his young audience got a little fidgety waiting for things to get going.

A large, audience-participation parade chaotically disrupted the show once it did kick off, and perhaps could be re-imagined to be more engaging, and worth breaking the flow. Trying to include all the children in the performance was an admirable goal, but didn’t seem to work out as well as intended.

Overall, kids will enjoy the standard offering of circus tricks, including opportunities to be called up to help hand off props and an ever-popular exhibition of machete juggling.

Ashley Frantik