Railed ★★★★

By The Recs JM - James McLuckie 4 years ago

The Recs moseyed on down to the Assembly George Square Gardens and enjoyed a cowboy-themed circus romp that knows exactly who its audience is and how to keep it happy.

Railed, a cowboy-themed romp from Melbourne’s Head First Acrobats, begins with the following announcement: “Ladies and gentlemen, please feel free to take the odd photograph or video. But don’t be a total wanker and have your phone above your head the entire show.” Yee-haw! That’s the way to get The Recs totally on side! 

The warning was probably necessary. Not just to remind the assembled punters of good audience etiquette but also because there was plenty on show that one would want to take a photograph of. The muscled, four-strong, male troupe writhed, contorted, bent, spun, leapt and back flipped to a thumping soundtrack, never once forgetting to stop and wink at the crowd. 

All photos by Matthew Gedling

Not all of the acrobatic antics on display were hugely original but they were delivered with such enthusiasm, vigour and cheek(s) that one would feel churlish griping about that.

In an evening designed to make audiences gasp and applaud, as well as titter, the top cowboy trumps would likely go to a sequence involving a particularly tall ladder that most definitely tested the nerves of some watching.

If the Australian gymnastics team thought that what the world needed was Magic Mike meets The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, with a huge dollop of Carry On innuendo thrown in, Railed is doubtless what they’d come up with. 

This is a show that knows exactly who its audience is and how to keep it happy. Leave the kids at home for this one, saddle up, and enjoy getting riled up by Railed. 

Lasso yourself a rootin’ tootin’ evening of saucy, sassy cowboy acrobatics with Railed ★★★★ (4 stars)

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Railed plays at Assembly George Square until 28th August

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The Recs JM - James McLuckie