Fringe Fest 2013 Reviews: Cirque du Fringe

I
kicked off my Fringe Festival experience in spectacular style with the opening
night performance of headlining act Cirque du Fringe, in the Magic Crystal Spiegeltent. First, let it be said, the Spiegeltent
is a beautiful venue and completely worthy of the hype it has received. The
circus-y vibe of the site is undeniable, with red and purple curtains draped
across the ceiling. Everything is wood, from floor to walls, with rows of
stained-glass windows and, as the name might suggest, mirrored highlights throughout.
Seating is set up in theater-in-the-round style, with a small stage in the
center surrounded by folding chairs on all sides and VIP booths around the
outskirts. It’s stunning; even more so considering the entire thing was set up
in a matter of days. To look at it, you’d think the Spiegeltent
were a permanent fixture of our city.

Cirque du Fringe is the perfect show for the setting, and exactly
what I was hoping for in an evening of Vegas-style circus entertainment. I will
say the show itself was somewhat less risque
than I was expecting (or, honestly, hoping), though the muscular pair of
strength acrobats were very popular at my table. But there was nothing in the
performance a 13-year-old couldn’t handle.

Other
acts from the night included quick-change artists, mesmerizing aerialists,
stunt clowning from the blokes at 20 Penny Circus (their performances seemed to
divide the group I was with, but I found them amusing and entirely in keeping
with the somewhat dark tone the show was going for), some hugely impressive
hula-hooping, a fluorescent juggling act set to Yello’s
“Oh Yeah,” and a ringmaster who gave, as one of my cohorts put it, “quality
side-eye.”

Shows
of this type often call for audience participants, and last night the
performers lucked out with some extremely enthusiastic ones, several of whom
managed to out mug even those clowns. But the most jaw-dropping act of the
night was fittingly saved for last: an astounding bit of balancing skill that
has to be seen to be believed. It involved a very high platform, cylinders
balanced on top of cylinders, and a tiny skateboard-sized apparatus. I’ll say
no more.

I was
given the chance to sit at one of the VIP tables, and while the booth was
comfortable (and allowed me the opportunity to feel swanky for once in my life), in this case it wasn’t an ideal viewing situation. I
unfortunately had a large post blocking my view of the center of the stage. It
didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the show, but it was a bit annoying. The VIP
seating is nice, but for this show at least, the best seats are on the floor.
There were sound issues and occasional mic problems
throughout the show, which was somewhat frustrating, but understandable and
perhaps unavoidable on opening night for a show with as much going on
technically.

Cirque
du Fringe performs every day throughout the festival. The show runs 80 minutes
and includes a 20-minute intermission. It’s worth noting that on the night I
attended, the show ran a little long, so keep that in mind if you’re planning
on theater-hopping.

Cirque du Fringe is
performed in the Spiegeltent (corner of Main and
Gibbs) nightly through Saturday, September 28, with 2 p.m. matinees on
Saturdays and Sunday. Tickets cost $31, or $180 for a VIP booth (seats six).

This article appears in Sep 18-24, 2013.