Review: ‘I Am the Boss’ – Sibling Squabbles at Edinburgh Fringe

“Don’t try this at home,” children may be warned at some of the family circus shows on the fringe. But the joy of this caper for over-threes in the Taiwan Season is that most of the behaviour is based on recognisable domestic hijinks, only taken to acrobatic extremes. A cushion fight, the race to claim the sofa for yourself and some resentful tidying up are all lampooned by 0471 Acro Physical Theatre. Ever tried scrubbing the floor while doing a handstand?

The setup is similar to Hoopla Clique’s raucous two-hander Chores, a past hit in Assembly’s elegant Piccolo tent. Left alone by their parents, three siblings squabble, sulk and goof off with wordless and often competitive antics, taking turns to gang up on or outdo each other. There are group piggybacks, birthday bumps, and a three-person-tall tower formation interspersed with some old-fashioned Broadway razzle-dazzle from Cheng-Hsueh Sun, Ling Hsia and Wei-Chueh Wu, who really sell their tricks.

With an often wacky musical accompaniment, this mischief spills into the front row and eventually the whole of the Piccolo’s auditorium. Toddlers have their feet tickled by feather dusters; older children are handed bubble guns and prove themselves sharpshooters.

There are some po-faced circus shows on the fringe but this is a silly, spirited 50 minutes. Aside from a sad-faced interlude, there is little change in the comic register but it builds towards a frantic finale. Never mind trying the tricks at home – young audiences are likely to want their own giant lollipop (the centrepiece of one madcap scene) or ask for a pair of these snazzy pyjamas, decorated with dinosaur, cat and pig pockets.