Fringe Circus

FRINGE CIRCUS Cardoso Flea Circus Garden Party Until August 28

HH

ON the periphery of the Edinburgh Fringe is where you see all the outlandish shows. You know the sort of thing: ladyboys, kung-fu champs and now the resurrected art of pulicology. That's flea training, apparently. But while the Cardoso Flea Circus has plenty of novelty value, the actual show doesn't live up to expectations.

All the staples (one assumes) of a flea circus - fleas weightlifting, fleas on a high wire, fleas diving off things - are brought to you on big screens via a camcorder. But none of this is as interesting as it sounds, so the organisers have tried to liven it up with a couple of twists. The first of these is the fleamaster, Professor Maria Fernanda Cardoso, who is frankly so bizarre you'd cross the street rather than catch her eye. Managing to maintain a serious voice throughout, she extols the virtues of the flea in a spooky monotone.

The second is the chance to get up close to the fleas at the end of the show, which at least gives kids some hands-on action. Sadly, that's not enough to justify the steep ticket price.

Doug Johnstone

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