PreHysterical is a family friendly acrobatics show set in the time of the cave man (and woman) featuring three talented, funny, flexible and strong, oh my goodness they are strong, acrobats from Head First Acrobats.
Threaded through the story of the three cave people, we were treated to aerials, acrobatics, contortion, balancing, hoolahooping and more (seriously I don’t know what was wrong with Ow’s shoulders but I don’t think the human body is designed to do the things that he did!).
It was acrobatics meets slapstick. There was butt smelling, fart jokes, nose picking, a story line (all be it a loose story line), amazing circus skills and up-beat music that literally had everyone clapping along. There were moments of panto madness with ‘it’s behind you’ shouted by every child in the room.
I was worried about how hot it would be in the Aurora Spiegeltent. What is it with Perth weather and Fringe, ‘oh Fringe is starting, best up the temp by at least 10 degrees!’ It was an absolute scorcher today and thankfully FRINGE WORLD Festival had set up some kids lawn sprinkler toys so a few of us ran through those to help cope with the heat of the queue to get in. Once in there it was a pleasant temperature. FRINGE WORLD Festival have done a great job cooling the venue!
Overall a really good, wholesome show! The audience was included from the very start with the cave men coming out to meet the kids before the show got started. The audience was distracted from noticing the set changes as the cave men came out to climb over chairs and make their way through the audience while the scenes were being set. I love that they started with the narrator telling everyone that they can make noise, clap, cheer, roar, beat your chest like a gorilla, do what feels right but get involved.
The true test of a show is the audience reaction and kids don’t know how to clap politely. They will let you know what they think one way or another. The kids in the audience were mesmerised. Their little faces glowing as they looked up at the performers.