Rochester Fringe Festival: Cirque du Fringe

This year the Fringe Festival imported a Spiegeltent (literally - mirror tent) from Belgium, and hosted several events there, including Cirque du Fringe (which we attended, with friends Rachel and Kevin) and Silent Disco (which we did not).We were lucky with the weather – it was chilly but clear, so we arrived early to grab a bite to eat, but were disappointed that there were only three food carts (and one was just candied nuts) and only one selling alcohol.  

There weren’t really enough seats (although there were some heaters, which was a nice touch), since seating was also being used by those attending the Pedestrian Drive-In, a cute concept involving a movie on a big screen and headsets (probably the same ones as for the Silent Disco).  The website advises that seating is limited; it ought to advise the moviegoers to bring their own folding chairs!

The Speigeltent was like a miniature circus tent, and the Cirque du Fringe felt like a scaled down, but very intimate version of Cirque du Soleil.  The performance was in-the-round, and walking around, it was easy to become disoriented because of all the mirrors. The acts were a mix of acrobatics, magic (I figured out two of the tricks immediately, thanks to David Pogue’s magic class I took 30 years ago!), strong men, and creepy stuff (I think involving things going into a nose and out of a mouth, but I’m not sure, because I closed my eyes during those bits!).  

My favorite acts were the juggler, the hula hoops (at one point the woman must have had about a dozen going at the same time, all up and down her body), and the female aerialist (perhaps part of the ‘R’ rating for the event was her Fredericks of Hollywood style costume?).  Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take photos during the performance, and given the layout of the stage and audience, it would have been very visible if I'd disobeyed!  

Even on a Tuesday night the performance was completely sold out, which bodes well for the organizers booking the event again for 2014, and maybe they will include more food cart options...