What you need to knowThe latest show from Cardiff-based contemporary circus company NoFit State, Bianco, has opened at the Roundhouse in London. NoFit State are best-known for their 2009 show Tabu.
Bianco is inspired by José Saramago's novel The Elephant's Journey. The immersive 'promenade' show moves around a standing audience and combines live music with theatrical and circus performances. Until 27 April.
What the critics likeNoFit State's Bianco is an "organic, almost steampunk tangle of tattoos and tutus", says Bruce Desseau in the Evening Standard. It's an earthy antidote to Cirque Du Soleil, and the seductive, exuberant mood is infectious.
Article continues belowThe Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"The show is at its exhilarating best when it is simplest," says Lyn Gardner in The Guardian. There's an exquisitely understated juggling act and a dance-trapeze finale combining first-rate skills with joyful, unashamed pleasure.
Bianco is warm-hearted, charming, ramshackle and fun, says Keith Watson in Metro. There's an excellent live band, whose singer does a mean Johnny Cash impression, but there's also "rare beauty in the quiet moments".
What they don't likeThere are some enchanting images conjured by Bianco, but "precious little narrative" to weld them together, says Laura Barnett in Time Out. And the continual rearranging of the set is distracting for the audience, without adding to the show.