HARRISON - The performance begins when a 10-foot cylinder slithers onto the stage and implodes. Before long, the entire audience is playing catch with gigantic inflatable props. The big blow-up shapes dance, shimmer, balloon, deflate and bounce in a rainbow of colors.

Suddenly, a globulating red cube takes on a life of its own, rolling, gliding and tumbling in synch to the music, right up to the edge of the stage. The big block teeters dramatically on the brink, quaking and bulging and changing shape before it amazes the crowd with its hilarious exit.

Next, a lovely ballerina dances a cancan, but her skirt starts to grow longer and longer, becoming first a ball gown, then a balloon that engulfs her and finally spirits her away.

Meet Fred Garbo's Inflatable Theatre Company and its show of physical comedy, juggling and original, creative inventions that inflate.

The theater company will perform at 8 p.m. Friday, July 25, at Deertrees Theatre.

Fast-paced, energetic, engaging and theatrically clever, the company has won the praise and affection of audiences worldwide. It has appeared on the "Late Show with David Letterman," at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., on Broadway at the New Victory Theater and on stage and television from Hong Kong to Brazil.

It's a show infused with artistic imagery and creative foolishness, deftly bouncing between grand silliness and living sculpture. It's a combination of zany antics and delicate grace. It's family fun described by the New York Times as "skillful, joyful, buoyant entertainment."

Tickets are $18 for adults, $12 for children and students. They are available at the Cool Moose in Bridgton, Fare Share Co-Op in Norway, Books N Things in Bethel and at the theater box office. For reservations or more information, call Deertrees at 583-6747.