BY JEAN WEST
Attrape Moi at Assembly [star rating =3/4]
Expert at their passion – these world-class acrobats from Quebec, know how to provoke the wows as firm favourites of more than one international fringe festival.
The daredevil Flip FabriQue, a gang of guys and one girl, get off on what they are good at; high flying, back-flipping, muscle-pumping, ball-breaking showing off, at adrenaline soaring speed.
Ideally suited to the half-moon theatre space at the Assembly Halls, they get off at a gallop at heart-stopping antics that gather pace as they joke and clown around, endearing the crowd.
Feats of exquisitely beautiful and boisterous strength build as one of their members takes a rope and swings through the audience, girating and contorting above the stage.
The zany circus troupe parade us through a not always cogent narrative, before a holiday cottage, whose doors and windows they exit and enter in less than conventional ways.
It’s hard at times to hear the dialogue, much less pair it with some of the incredible acrobatics but somehow it doesn’t seem to matter.
Their gravity-defying stunts are language enough in this well-loved show and audiences can’t seem to get enough.
Some of the banter gets annoying but then there are moments of grace. The Nick Drake inspired music and dancing with torches whilst supporting each other with strength and comradeship was quite moving.
But a trampolining tour de force, which saw players ascending, descending, and even walking up walls and poles at a crazed pace, was the real showstopper! A spectacle of timing and precision, it was clearly only made to look easy through practice and dexterity.
There was the occasional slip – some of the landings were less than graceful. But the audience was happy to forgive these likeable guys from across the Atlantic. No doubt they’ll be back again next year if the standing applause and sell-out runs in recent years are any measure.
Featured image: Richard Davenport
