Papillon
Papillon is a joyous fusion of circus, physical theatre and cabaret. Though none of the various stunts are particularly original or groundbreaking, they are performed with impressive athletic finesse and endearingly cheeky good humour. Tristan Seebohm’s colourful costumes and the bold lighting cues (courtesy of After Dark Productions) ensure that Papillon is a visually striking experience from beginning to end, and the eclectic soundtrack (which includes elements of big-band, flamenco, jazz, cheezy 80s hair metal, adult-contemporary piano ballads and provocative hip-hop covers) enhances the overall atmosphere enormously.
Idris Stanton provides the majority of the evening’s laughs, due to his adorably chipper “can-do” approach to humiliating himself and enduring great pain in the name of art – be it going the full monty in a burlesque styled juggling routine, playing Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” on a mousetrap laden keyboard or keeping plates spinning to the tune of Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar On Me”, which is complicated somewhat by the troupe’s very literal interpretation of the lyrics.
Amy Nightingale-Jolsen’s trapeze routine set to the tune of a dubstep arrangement of the Sesame Street favourite “Rubber Ducky” is also highly amusing, as is circus songbird Minnie Andrews’ ironically sweet and soulful cover of Khia’s “My Neck My Back (Lick It)”
The show’s more serious moments are no less accomplished. Nightingale-Jolsen’s balletic pas de deux with Elena Kirschbaum unfolds with poignant grace and Joshua Phillips takes ones breath away with his ability to balance atop a tower of precariously stacked chairs.
These are just some of the highlights of what makes for a very consistently entertaining evening of physical theatre. Papillon is Fringe at its finest, so if you aren’t bothered by some brief strobe lighting and even briefer comic nudity, then it’s well worth checking out.
Benjamin Orchard.
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