This Review is from August 2024

The Wild Women Circus are Vanessa Lee Baisch, Sarah Bleasdale, Sarah Lindermayer, Sari Mäkelä and Nicole Ratjen. This Berlin based all-women international circus troop present a comedic hour that sums up the Edinburgh Fringe itself – a modern variety show.

The vibe is fast and fun and, dare I say, sexy.

The women are all expert in their chosen disciplines. Solo performances are interspersed with physical comedy and sketches. The spirited and intricate hula hooping is made to look easy. I love the rowdy drag king dance number. The Chinese pole acrobatic routine is stunning enough to make the person sitting next to me exclaim out loud that she’s fallen in love.

Add trapeze, juggling, dance, tightwire, clown – it’s all here.

There is a story… between the set pieces we hear brief readings from a big book of female history and knowledge, I think. My only criticism of the show is that many of the words are difficult to hear. The acoustics inside the Underbelly’s upside-down purple cow are designed for music, not heavily accented speech. I want to know more.

But ultimately, I love this show. A circus for people like me, who aren’t necessarily fans of the circus. The audience is asked to join in and dance, and I am out of my seat, bopping away with the rest of them.

Martin Walker

Image by Klaus Manns Photography

Tickets HERE

Reviews of Barbaren Barbies: A Wild Women Circus collated by the British Comedy Guide HERE