It seems like a great idea to base a show on the intriguing Insect Circus Museum. This is a Victorian flea circus brought to the big stage. Insects from the four corners of the known world perform circus tumbles for a family audience. Of course theyre not real insects but puppets and actors in beautifully crafted costumes.
What should be big top thrills and spills however turns out to be disappointingly dull. The show begins with an amateurish performance from the acrobatic ants and struggles to pick up. Much of the humour comes from the impression that the insects are rather bored and uncooperative. Its not until Nursey Nurse and her cute dust mites appear that we get some light relief but too many long gaps between acts prevent the show from gaining any momentum. The hesitant and unenthusiastic ringmaster has to take much of the blame for this. Perhaps the amateurish feel is intended to add charm but it comes over as under rehearsed.
There are simply not enough ideas to string this out for over an hour. Any impressive acrobatic performances are kept until the very end of the show when its all but too late to recapture the audiences initial excitement.
(Dont let this show put you off visiting the fantastically original Insect Circus Museum which can also be found in the Spiegel Garden.)
