Afrique en Cirque at Edinburgh Fringe ★★★
★★★ Afrique en Cirque | Assembly Hall
A gently entertaining parade of rhythmic acrobatics, just lacking the knock-out dramatics.
Yamoussa Bangoura’s never-dull circus show, inspired by daily life in Guinea, is worth seeing for the music alone – a toe-tapping, leg-jiggling bombardment of Afro-Jazz percussion. Against this, the troupe of performers almost play second fiddle, the tricks and talents on display impressive but mostly on the safe side.
There’s some wince-inducing contortion, which brings some much needed edge to proceedings – but the acrobatics lack the climactic drama and thrill of danger which marks out the most memorable circus shows.
A fun way to spend an hour, then, but not the most memorable circus showcase you could wish for.
I am Joint Editor at To Do List. I like: nice pubs, film marathons, not doing real marathons, bad comedy, plays/musicals with shorter second halves, and the Oxford comma.
