Soap! The Show

Festival-goers needing some escape need look no further than Soap!. This exuberantly realised mix of dance, acrobatics and party tricks is terrific family entertainment and at times an awe-inspiring demonstration of physical power.

Six bathtubs sit at different levels on the Assembly Hall’s imposing stage. An opera singer in an outfit that would be too over the top for Mardi Gras sings various water and bath related lyrics while elsewhere feet do juggling, a 6ft man is lifted by the chest of another, there’s all manner of twirling on trapezes and splashing water around while the lights flash and dance like we’re at a Kylie concert. What more could you want after a long day?

While the vast majority of the 75 minutes of i>Soap! bubbles along wondrously, one sequence in which famous classical or pop standards are sung with words changed to bath references is an idea that should have been drowned at birth. But the show is full to the brim with wondrous visual pleasures accompanied by high-decibel rock music.

All in all, good clean fun.

– Benet Catty