Rouge

Hailing from a stellar run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival is ‘Rouge: A Circus for Grown Ups’. And it is a truly spectacular show. The award-winning Australian production is a celebration of jaw-dropping acrobatics, cheeky burlesque and charming cabaret that was both sensual and gorgeous. Overflowing with confidence and sass, each performer filled the theatre with their own unique charm, and often sent the audience into fits of laughter and pure joy. Alongside the perfect injection of tongue-in-cheek (and occasionally naughty) humour, the 70-minute show passed in a blink of an eye and left us wanting more.

Whilst each short act seemed disconnected from each other, overall the acts worked together to expose the audiences to various facets of burlesque and cabaret. Included were death-defying acrobatics that left the audience gasping in shock and heaving sighs of relief as the performers completed their immaculate routine. There was even some involvement of the audience members with the acrobatics – it kept us on our toes! However, some audience participation was uncalled for: one woman decided to go up on stage, attempting to touch the performer without permission. She was rapidly (and smoothly) shuffled off the stage by another performer, much to our chagrin and amusement.

Things were kept light-hearted with the performer’s cheeky winks, slapstick humour and general sassiness. One entire song had a performer enthusiastically dancing with a lampshade on her head, mimicking the lyrics of David Guetta’s ‘Turn Me On’. The performance then built on this theme, with subsequent partially-nude acts using the lampshade to maintain the performers’ privacy. We were often left roaring with laughter as the performers took bites of carrot strapped to a performer’s underwear, whilst another got his pants pulled down (they were careful not to flash us though!).

Whilst funny, the true highlight of the show was the acrobatics. We witnessed core strength that one can only aspire to, with the performers’ flexibility and musculature being those made of dreams. We can only laud the performers’ ability and skill, alongside their ability to blend these acts in with sexier ones. Throughout, they maintained a charm and stage presence that left us smiling, with their infectious energy and passion rolling onto us.

‘Rouge’ was a show that left the audience feeling thrilled and empowered. A truly decadent blend of acrobatics, cabaret and burlesque, it is easy to see how this show is the Weeklies winner Best Circus Adelaide Fringe 2018 and Fringeworld 2019. It was an endless celebration of all things passionate, operatic and borderline inappropriate. I could not have imagined a better way to spend an evening, for it was a true sensation to behold.

- 4 stars