This Twisted Tale @The Drill Hall

An odd young girl without friends encounters a personal devil on her shoulder. She is enticed to naughty acts of revenge, excitement and adventure – such as smearing poo on a bully –as she inhabits a grown-up’s playground where a swing becomes chains to be climbed, a lamppost a Chinese pole and a trash can a vessel for sinister voiceover.

The performance opens with Chloe and her mobile shadowbox, using puppets to tell stories – including her own of bullying and enslavement to an evil puppet. Clad in cute Gothic white-wear, she engages and elicits sympathy,until her devil enters, introducing crazy adventures around a red wig and amidst mesmerizing aerial work combined with video projection.

Canadian Aerialist/Acrobatic/Theatre collective Paper Doll Militia succeeds in their joyous aerial work. If the script is sometimes clunky, the partner work on the trapeze and rope is  fabulous without falling into spectacle: so beautiful, the effortless skill and timing hides the complex choreography behind the elegant appearance.