There are two shows running by NoFit State Circus at this year’s Fringe: Bianco and Noodles. Bianco is in their usual unusual style, but Noodles is a new piece, created specifically for the theatre, that represents a departure from their Big Top performance production.
NoFit State has a huge reputation here at the Fringe and there was a buzz of anticipation as the audience settled into their seats. Over the stage area, ropes were hanging: big, thick chunky ones and bunches of thin, straggly ones - looking a lot like noodles. Loosely, the show is centred around a bizarre cooking programme that descends into chaos when these noodles take over.
One by one the 5 performers, each dressed in a different primary colour and in the punk style, lined up in silence at the front of the stage and proceeded to pull streams of noodles out of various orifices, to the accompaniment of very loud squelching and slurping sound effects.
After a lot fiddling with spotlights and not much happening, there was a brief aerial rope routine followed, after more silence, by the one male performer doing a few – pretty good – magic tricks.
There was a lot of pretending to cook while speaking very quickly in Spanish, that was incomprehensible; there was a 5 minute stand-up routine from a cat that wasn’t funny; there were some more magic tricks; a few bits of really excellent circus stuff… and an awful lot of noodles.
The aim, according to creative director Tom Rack, was to challenge the barriers between circus and theatre, but they didn’t really manage to pull this off. There were some beautifully bizarre moments such as a wire-walker in a Marilyn wig, attired in the famous white dress, with the others manoeuvring fans underneath her while she walked along frantically trying to hold her skirt down. More fun was had when a performer was balanced upside down on one hand while the others threw noodles at her until she gave up.
Unfortunately though, while there were some quirky and clever pieces of action, there was far too much filler and not nearly enough killer.
Runs until 25 Aug (not 20), 12.45
Tickets £12 (£10) (£40 F)