Expect to gasp in wonder when you see Yoah, the new show from Japanese circus company Cirquework. Acts are fitted into a loose, non-specific plot, in which a young woman finds herself surrounded by masked figures in black and must find her way up and away from them.

Each performer has a particular talent and gets about ten minutes to show it off, and there truly is some breathtaking skill on display. The chair acrobatics are a highlight as one performer does a heart-stopping handstand atop six precariously stacked chairs. There are a few mistakes made here and there (a tower of diabolos comes tumbling down at one point) but in a way these serve to make the rest of the show more exciting. 

Most of Yoah consists of incredibly impressive diabolo juggling, with the performers able to juggle four diabolos on a single string. The only issue is that it gets somewhat repetitive after they pull out their most thrilling tricks too early. Similarly, while the techno soundtrack complements much of the action, it occasionally builds to a crescendo, the intensity of which doesn’t always match the trick we’re seeing. Yoah is imperfect but there’s enough here for people to leave feeling satisfied. 

This review was originally written in 2024 for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival; Yoah will be performed at Gluttony from Friday 21 February-Sunday 23 March, 6.30pm.