Utopia! And the Calamity Caravan | Observatory Theatre
Using circus, tap dance and clowning, the team at Observatory Theatre have made a vibrant and lively adventure story that is sure to please the kiddos. This is a pretty good first draft of a fun family show, and I genuinely enjoyed it and would like to see it transformed into a real winner, so I am going to put on my circus producer hat for this one.
Upon arrival there was some quality slapstick clowning at the beginning by Taine Harding & Oliver Carroll-Collerson. I’m not a huge fan of when performers overuse fake non-voices (it grates on me a bit and my personally preference is less sound punctuation and more physical signposting), that said I really loved their genuine welcoming energy, their joyous interpretation of some classic clowning manoeuvres (such folding sheets badly and sneaking up on each other), and the youngsters in the crowd were in full agreement, they really loved these two and were giggling maniacally.
After the warm-up routines, the show proper started with a mildly confusing false entrance, the full cast entered and arranged themselves about the space, before commencing on cue. They could have just launched into it – the audience was fully warmed up already and ready to go.
The show features much tap-dance, which was fun and exciting and also somewhat relentless. It was good to see this underutilised performing art used in narrative-driven storytelling. It’s a fun skill, and seen less than it should be. However, it was used a lot; when you have a good trick it is better highlighted when used as a condiment or main course rather than a full degustation. The show needed more variation in tempo between the high-action scenes, I found it was hard to maintain the driving pace as the show built towards the wild exit. There was a lack of clarity about the why of the entrances and exits of the Grand Magician (Kara Fisher), and she had such a welcoming energy and glorious smile I would have liked to see her on stage more, colluding with the Baron (Sabrina Jobst), the Monkey (Lachlan Driscoll), & the Maid (Kristin Sparks) to build the Caravan.
There was an excess of rushing back and forth that obscured the detail of the storyline. I understood the major arc of the show but felt I missed the detail in the rushing around. I also felt it was a lost opportunity to only feature Harding and Carroll-Collerson merely as warm-up, as they had such good energy. Finding a way to intersperse their clowning in between the tap scenes would elevate this show, allowing the audience to change tempo between the dramatic scenes, and making the dance scenes even more impactful. Perhaps they help, perhaps they sabotage, perhaps they merely mock everyone else? And I would loved a final dance scene with everyone – tap dancing, flipping, wiggling or whatever!
The show was extraordinarily loud in the small wooden room at Hamilton Hall, but this is not a worry, as I feel it will fill a padded Fringe tent with just the right ambience. And indeed it has all the elements for a fun Fringe show, with a good shake and polish. The performers were all enthusiastic and energetic and genuinely having a good time, and this is the basis of the best family shows, so I look forward to its next incarnation.
