Barbu

‘Barbu’ literally means ‘bearded’ in French. It’s a playful title for a show packed with follicularly bountiful circus performers, and serves as a punchline more than once.

From Quebec, Cirque Alfonse are one of several troupes to have emerged from the contemporary circus powerhouse that is Canada. There’s a fairground feel to their latest show, a nice fit with the London Wonderground’s mirrored Spiegeltent where it’s playing. It charts circus’s evolution in Montreal from the end of the nineteenth century up to today. However, this theme feels almost like a restriction at times – the opening salvo of acrobatics lack a sense of purpose. 

Displays on rollerskates and hat-juggling are nice touches, but in the first half there’s often a sense of box-ticking – of watching a history lesson in a ring. And when putting a twist on an old favourite is the default for contemporary circus, this envelope needs more pushing. 

It’s not until ‘Barbu’ embraces cabaret that the show gains momentum and starts to twinkle. While it’d probably be rarer, these days, to see a circus act where the performers actually kept their kit on, here, it unleashes a playfully naughty personality.

Whether it’s a ball balanced between a pair of strapping chests or a cask of booze spraying everywhere from on top of a human pyramid, it’s brash, crass and guiltily fun. It just takes longer than it should to get there.