After selling out their whole season of Adelaide Fringe 2024 with Reminiscence, Life in the Air Productions returns to Adelaide Fringe 2025 with a brand new theme and concept. The Director’s Cut mixes old-timey 1940s circus vibes with some amazing artists from around Australia. Set in the gorgeous Parks Theatre, The Director’s Cut promised a good time and, by the end of the night, certainly delivered.
The second thing that will capture your attention in this show (I’ll get to the first later) is the two MCs hosting this performance. I can’t remember seeing a dynamic duo quite as funny or entertaining as Dylan and Kirsty before. Their banter together was light-hearted and fun, and I particularly loved how they seamlessly bounced off one another with their ramblings and intentionally cringey jokes. What a refreshing way to host a show!
One of the big drawcards of The Director’s Cut was including Jordan ‘Biggie’ Steffans in the cast. I was expecting a few more acts of strength from this mountain of a man, but what he did was still impressive. Swinging artists around left and right, lifting them over his head, and breaking a baseball bat in half were just a few of his power moves. If Biggie was the muscles, then Sarah Cassandra is the heart and soul of this show. Her aerial talents shone throughout the one-hour performance, but what caught the attention of this reviewer, was her dance choreography skills. Teaming up with another dancer, John, they flawlessly mirrored each other's movements and emotions and brought something a little different to The Director’s Cut. Other acts included aerial pole antics from the wonderfully named Zebra Pole, a gorgeous slowed-down fire performance from the amazing Icarus, musician Dre with a ho-hum singalong, and an absolutely outstanding foursome in the Acro Team. Combining strength, agility and grace these four performers stole the show and could quite easily have closed it. That endeavour was left to Trixie and Sarah however and they delivered, yet again, something that I’ve never really seen before. They performed separately but together, Sarah on the aerial net and Trixie working around her spinning his fire trident. It made for a beautiful visual.
Speaking of visuals, let's get back to what I mentioned earlier, the FIRST thing you’ll notice in The Director’s Cut. I’ve reviewed many shows in my time but have never had the sound and tech person placed fairly and squarely in the audience's eye line on the actual performance stage. Every act, every picture and in every transition the audience is forced to look at the tech guy as he looks for his cues, asks for the thumbs up from the side of the stage and even records some of the acts on his phone whilst they’re performing. It made for some of the most distracting moments throughout the whole show. It’s what turned a great show into a good one, and if The Director’s Cut can move the tech to a different location and tweak a few performances, they’ll have a sure-fire hit on their hands.
**** FOUR STARS