After a few years of different and often more experimental shows, Barely Methodical Troupe return with a revamped version of their award-winning Bromance, last seen at the Fringe in 2014. While the content is mostly different, the charm remains the same, and the show is more brilliant than ever before.
The first segment encapsulates all that is excellent about this troupe: the tension is wound so tight the slightest gesture or movement from a performer draws a gasp or a peal of laughter from the audience. The show is built on relationships, principally between the three performers as they navigate a journey from handshakes, through ridicule, to intimacy, but also with the audience, as spoken and nonverbal interactions draw us further under the performers’ spell.
The choreography is more diverse than before, with more dance elements allowing the performers to show off their immaculate timing and lift the crowd up with joyful routines. The music varies between upbeat, mellow, and almost melancholy, bringing the mood of the audience along with it.
The acrobatics are stunning, particularly the gasp-inducing hand to hand between Louis Gift and Beren D’Amico, and Charlie Wheeller’s prowess with the Cyr wheel. But what really sets this troupe apart is their combination of these acrobatic talents with beautiful, heart-warming and hilarious physical theatre.
The show has a cheekiness to it which adds to the entertainment, but D’Amico, Gift and Wheeller still manage to come across as touchingly human, almost as delighted as the audience in the dazzling production they have achieved.