Conceptual or postmodern theatre doesn’t always sit well with the public. Be it because it is sometimes unpenetrable, or too abstract to understand, these plays tend to have the least following, and perform to a three quarters empty audience. In this case, this is a good thing, since it means that there are more people out there who won’t have lost an hour of their life, compared to the poor souls who attend Balloon Boutique.
When the best you can say about a show is that its running time is around 45 minutes, you know you are in trouble. It is very difficult to explain what the play is about (can you call this a play?), or even why anyone thought it was a good idea to begin with. With some of the most talentless performers out there, who repeat again and again their actions (and in a mime show, this is never a good thing), a very tiring soundtrack of three songs on a loop, and the aid of some balloons (for no apparent reason, even if it is the central point of the whole show), Balloon Boutique is painfully dull to watch.
There is no real storyline to follow, though we are suposed to root for a pair of characters who just, for no reason, fall in love. We see how they jump, dance, then jump some more, burst some balloons, to be followed by dancing, and jumping, and more jumping, and jumping… It is sad then, that such amazingly beautiful costumes and masks are wasted in such attrocious act (kudos were kudos are due, the masks are beautiful).
There are over 2000 shows in the Fringe, and sometimes choosing what to go see is a difficult task. In this case, it should be pretty easy. Avoid Balloon Boutique like the plague, it is much more fun to go and see paint dry. You have been warned.
1/5 
Adrian G. Velazquez
(3 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
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