HOTEL PARADISO: Old School Acrobats By Lost In Translation Circus ~ Adelaide Fringe 2020 Review

[CIRCUS & PHYSICAL THEATRE/Performance ~ AUSTRALIAN PREMIER ~ UK] The Peacock at Gluttony, Sun 16 Feb. Clearly Lost In Translation are cinephiles, with both their company and show name coming from movies. A physical and acrobatic old school circus, they have created a failing hotel with a broke matriarch and a dedicated staff who have to suddenly come up with a bunch of money to pay off the evil Miss Sausage (No it SoSarge – it’s French) and her enforcer with 24 hours. There are a lot of moving parts to this production. Props are moved and re-purposed with innovative speed and effect, the cast are often in the audience and the acrobatics and juggling are terrific whether balanced on a huge stack of chairs, hanging from their toes high above the arena or on Terra Firma. There are some very ‘bendy’ performances which are extremely impressive. There is no rude language but rather a few too many routines with characters juggling booze bottles for what is essentially a kids’ show. That said the matriarchs drunken hula hooping is a highlight, with her walking over seats, getting a drink and adding dozen more hoops never missing a beat, very impressive. With the performers not mic'd-up, dialogue and plots were a bit unclear from time to time and certainly too complicated for my nearly seven year old to remain fully engaged with. She moved between “I’m bored Daddy” to “That was AWESOME”. Will they pull off the super chair stack? Will the find the missing tip money? Who is sending these love letters? Mostly these get answered in this family friendly show in Gluttony, mostly on weekends for the run of the festival. 3.5 stars Ian (and Ruby) Bell Hotel Paradiso continues at The Peacock at Gluttony, at various times, until Sun 15 Mar. Book at FringeTIX on 1300 621 255 or adelaidefringe.com.au. Click HERE to purchase tickets. #ADLfringe