Review: YUCK Circus: Naughties and Tuck Shop at Rooftop Encore
YUCK Circus: Naughties and Tuck Shop at Rooftop Encore
Thursday, April 4, 2024
For those missing the death-defying and saucy action of Fringe World, Western Australian performing arts groups YUCK Circus and Tone & Cheek Productions have teamed up for a heart-racing double feature.
Under a sky gradually turning from blue to more of a purple, YUCK Circus: Naughties began with the sounds of a countdown, which ended by taking us back to January 1st, 2000. The troupe lined the stage, dancing and bopping to Pump It by Black Eyed Peas and armed with oversized reflective hand fans that blinded when catching the sunlight, and turned over to reveal a trilogy of So Fresh CDs.
Cheeky dance moves quickly took on a more daring tone with the following act, an all-female Backstreet Boys tribute. Their effortless flips around and above each other in between usual boyband moves interrupted any cringy singalongs with cheers and culminated in a human seesaw. In between acts, the MC, in a pink two-piece outfit appropriate for the era, provided bursts of nostalgia: Nokia phone fidgeting, the dark side of Dolly Magazine, and a rundown of texting acronyms of the day.
Before any ropes or hooks came out, the group returned to the stage, each carrying a chair. Once stacked beyond their heights, one began a rhythmic and light-footed climb up the remarkably stable tower. Her graceful rearranging of the chairs as more were added impressively blended the skills of a ballerina and a tradie, becoming a perfect silhouette against the surrounding buildings upon reaching the pinnacle.
Finally, a silk rope was raised for another daring performer to grace the sky. Tying herself tighter in the silk as she climbed above the stage, the performer had hearts racing in the audience as she twisted and untangled herself freely back towards earth before catching herself mid-freefall and making a dove-like landing back on stage. The whole act was perfectly paired with the melodrama of the accompanying song.
A skipping troupe then took the stage, bringing a wave of competitive nostalgia and memories of primary schooling in the 2000s. These performers were the ones who survived the playground, running through the tricks that challenged schoolchildren of the era. More schoolyard staples followed with hula-hooping, although neon hoops and The Presets’ My People blasting in the background gave it more of an adult vibe.
Despite some first-night jitters, the show proved to be a raw, exhilarating, and reflective show. Memories of childhood hobbies and flicking through Mum’s magazines rushed back, for better or worse. The spectacular acrobatics served the theme of the show well, acting as almost a metaphor for rising above and moving on from that era.
Re-entering the seated area, several scantily clad performers were making the rounds, greeting new arrivals and people returning for part two. One of them seemed particularly keen to finish a bottle of pre-mixed spirits, as if an Uber was about to arrive. Eventually, the houselights came down before one of the roaming performers scaled the stage in the darkness. The stage was then illuminated to show the others roaming the crowd had made it from pre’s to the Tuck Shop bar on stage.
The bartender, clad in a milk bar-style uniform, moved a martini shaker in time to Groove is in the Heart. Reaching the song’s rap verse, they glided out from behind the bar, revealing roller skates as footwear. Sliding up and down the stage with a hip-hop-inspired boastfulness at first, the tone quickly became more titillating. A drop of their uniform’s bottom half revealed what could be mistaken for bare buttocks from the back row. A subtle reference to Roller Girl from Boogie Nights, perhaps?
The iconic voice of David Attenborough crooned through the speakers, discussing difficulties in mating. As if summoned by the renowned natural historian, a dancer dressed head to toe in a branching, full-length green dress arrived. Gradually, they shed the faux leaves and dress, as if the temperature had gone up a notch.
Hula hooping in this show was taken to the next level. The next act doubled the previous show’s efforts, with four hula hoops dizzyingly spinning around a slender frame. Then, with raised arms gripping the ever-popular rigging, they lifted off the stage with bodies and hoops spinning together in a mesmerising display.
The second half of this show teetered towards ‘chaotic good’, with the music taking a bass-heavy turn. An acrobat took on the role of a disco ball, suspended above the stage in a reflective outfit, while spinning at the speed of a washing machine on dry cycle. Another reminder of a blinding night on the town was a dance routine paying homage to the angry douche at the club dropping his bag of white powder. This morphing from a show to a party culminated in a combination of cream and Murder on the Dancefloor.
While this show is advertised as for adults only, a more accurate way to describe it would be ‘children who reached drinking age’ only. With captivating aerial stunts and a dazzling cast of seductive performers, this Tuck Shop has all the ingredients it needs to get any heart racing.
AJ MAHAR
