Circus, cabaret, comedy and a dash of debauchery collide in Papillon. After touring nationally for almost four years, the show has returned to Melbourne for this year's Melbourne Fringe Festival and it definitely lives up to expectations.
Mark Graham's cheeky balancing act displays his strength, amazing sense of balance and the gymnastic skills required to pull this off - as well as his clothing. Later he performs a mesmerising aerial hoop act to a stunning cover of Radiohead's "Creep" sung by Minnie Andrews.
Joshua
Phillips' two balancing acts - one on a ladder and then on a number of chairs - add to the
suspense one feels when watching circus but his comical demeanour make
it seem like he is in control the entire time.
Led my Musical Director, Matt Anderson, the music plays a vital role in this show, setting the mood for each act and evoking varying emotions from the audience. Amy Nightingale-Olsen's rubber ducky trapeze number is suitable paired to a Bert and Ernie themed electronic song, and her partnered juggling act with Anderson, involving some strong hand-eye coordination as well as being in total time with each other, is accompanied by some great swing style music. Similarly, Andrews' performance of Khia's "My Neck, My Back" is a perfect way to begin to bring the show to a close.
Circus, cabaret and comedy all roll into one with through the enticing performance of Papillon. Touring nationally for almost four years and thrilling its audiences during that time, the show is set to return to Melbourne for this year's Melbourne Fringe Festival presenting a combination of crowd favourite routines and some new ones to entice us with.
"Papillon is an adults circus cabaret, so we take the best bits of circus
and the best bits of cabaret and put it all together for just the grown
ups. You can expect all types of top level circus skills, incredible
singing and musicianship, some rude words and there might be the occasional lewd behaviour," Amy Nightingale-Olsen, an acrobat with the troupe, laughs.
"The show is beautiful and glitzy, but it also has a raw honesty to it.
We don't take ourselves too seriously and the show is about having fun.
We're having a great time and we want the audience to have a great time
with us," she tells me. "We mix the grace and beauty of elite circus disciplines with the
grittiness of music and comedy that you're only aloud to get away with
in an all adult show."
Of course, getting a group of talented circus performers to come together was no mean feat for producers Idris Stanton and Elena Kirschbaum. "El and Idris brought us all together. We
all come from very different backgrounds and from all across the
country and our pianist is from America," Nightingale-Olsen says. "They picked the best acrobats and
musicians that would fit into the style
of Papillon. We've all worked together for many years now and have a
great rapport with each other. It's a fantastic dynamic."
Circus, cabaret, comedy and a dash of debauchery collide in Papillon. After touring nationally for almost four years, the show has returned to Melbourne for this year's Melbourne Fringe Festival and it definitely lives up to expectations.