Theatre review: Balloon Boutique

Published on Tuesday 18 August 2009 18:59

BALLOON BOUTIQUE

C TOO (VENUE 4)

THERE is a small blow-up dog staring at me as I write this; the kind you get at parties for the under-fives or from clowns who are trying to make you be their friend. This may all be starting to sound a bit too much like a kids' show for your liking (unless you are a kid and then you're probably buying a ticket now), but don't worry – it's actually a lovely little romance that will appeal to anyone with a heart and imagination.

Through a giant bubble, two delightful masked performers (Nick Ash and Becky Kitter) transport us back to the rock'n'roll world of the 1950s. They play a young couple meeting at a time when transistor radios are the latest craze and staying up all night jiving is more important than planning for the future. He is a motorbike-loving Elvis type and she is an excitable vision in a hooped skirt. Their world is made from, and populated by, balloons – mainly those long thin ones you can make things with. However, while there are the mandatory dogs – lots and lots of dogs – there are also some beautiful routines through which balloons are used as the very thing that binds the characters together and enables them to live out their love.

There's no dialogue and everything is conveyed visually, including multiple timelines. This feels highly ambitious for a piece restricted to using mime and balloons. It's down to the sheer talent of the performers that they enable their characters to float past different versions of themselves in a way that is so effortlessly easy to follow.

The moment the young girl finally meets her older self is chokingly poignant. What seems like a saddening comparison between someone in the prime of their youth with their older, less able self turns into a celebration of life and all that is possible for anyone of any age. The enduring power of being young at heart is then fully revealed through the final concluding image – one of the greatest balloon sculptures you'll ever see.

SALLY STOTT

Until 30 August. Today 2pm.