A fun blend of comedy and circus geared towards younger children
Presented by: 0471 Acro Physical Theatre & Cluster Arts
Reviewed: 7 March, 2024
While there are many local acts at this year’s Adelaide Fringe, it is also exciting to see that our festival also draws acts from all over the world. I am the BOSS comes all the way from Taiwan, bringing a child-friendly show of clowning, mime, and acrobatic skills.
The three performers seem to be playing the roles of three children, tasked with cleaning up while the parents are out. The voiceover is not in English, but you can gather the intent from the performers’ miming. The first half of the show is more of a clowning performance than an acrobatic one, with each character trying to avoid cleaning, and then fighting over snacks, and so on. The performers are very expressive in their faces and body language and play off each other well through this physical theatre. Some elements (such as the cleaning gags) seemed to go for quite a long time, and I would have liked more variety or for the show to move through to the next segment more quickly.
It was surprising that there weren’t more acrobatic tricks at the beginning of the show, as it would have been more effective in drawing the audience into the performance than the energetic but slightly messy dance routine. It also seemed to take the performers a little while to warm up into the show; early tricks were either not executed very cleanly, or were deliberately set up to fail in a clowning way. While the latter were entertaining, we didn’t get to see the set up of beautifully performed tricks first to give the audience the security of ‘they know what they’re doing.’
As the performance went on, the execution of the acrobatic tricks definitely improved and there were some great balancing feats and impressive tossing around of the female performer. There was also a silks routine part way through the show, which was executed well and gives the show a change of tone from comedy to something more serious.
There was unfortunately one element of the show that left myself and my daughter feeling rather uncomfortable. Early on in the show there is a moment where the performers throw, quite forcefully, large couch cushions at patrons in the front row. This clearly shocked the audience members, and though they took it with good humour, there were also quite a few drinks in open cups that risked being spilled. My daughter became quite anxious about the idea of a large, heavy couch cushion being thrown at her, and I would recommend that anyone with very small or potentially anxious children avoid the front row.
It’s fabulous to have such a wide range of shows available at the Fringe, not only representing different genres but also cultures. I am the BOSS becomes a fun blend of comedy and circus that is especially geared at younger children.
Reviewed by Kristin Stefanoff
Photo credit: Ho Chao Sheng
Venue: The Bunker, Fool’s Paradise
Season: until 17 March
Duration: 45min
Tickets: $14 – $25
Bookings: https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/i-am-the-boss-af2024
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