CincyFringe Review: The Vindlevoss Family Circus Spectacular!

What makes you human?  How do you know?  Could you be a zombie pretending to be human?  In Karim Muasher and Carrie Brown's production of The Vindlevoss Family Circus Spectacular there is no question who the zombie is, but does that mean a zombie can't be human?  Weren't all zombies former humans? Are zombies and humans just part of the same circle of life?

Using props and light, the two characters, Professor Vindlevoss and her adopted son Edvar the zombie, put themselves to the test to determine if they are human.  The Professor is putting Edvar to the test, but in turn she is testing herself relating to her own father and keeping her humanity by not giving up her zombie son.

If you want to know what the soul of a Fringe Festival is like when it is on stage, then see The Vindlevoss Family Circus Spectacular.  This is why I love the Fringe Festival.  This show is a charming, funny, and inventive production that puts the physical elements of theatre around a focused theme and succeeds.  The style feels like what I would imagine you would have seen in European theatres 100+ years ago, and therefore makes it unique for Cincinnati audiences of today. I wonder if audiences of Over-the-Rhine  of the 19th century would have felt right at home watching these actors?  I'm no historian, but I think they would. The show has a few sound issues, and would fit better in a more intimate space, but that doesn't hold it back.

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