Many
years ago, in land far, far away – well actually
not that far. I can walk there. Anyway we had this Christmas tradition. We
would attend the living Christmas tree concert at the South Bank Piazza. It was
a spectacular thing which concluded with a nativity procession with donkeys,
camels and the like. The highlight for my son out of this whole extravaganza
was always the poo count. The more animals that did wees or poos during this
procession, the happier he was. I was reminded of this tonight at Cirque du
Soleil. If the franchise represents anything it is high quality, jaw droppingly
good entertainment. But it’s also good fun with some really, really great
clowning and this time one of the acts that got the biggest laughs was a clown dog
who weed all over a cameraman. Living freaks doing things that should not be
possible and we wet ourselves over a wee. Cirque du Soleil really understands
the show biz motto “make ‘em laugh”
The
Canadian-based circus juggernaut has spawned a kaleidoscope of different shows
- 21 in all right now if my count is correct – and while I’ve only seen half
that number I can say there’s not a dud among them. Is this this best? Probably
not. But it’s good. Really, really good. Will this have you gasp, hold your
breath, clap, cheer, laugh, smile and feel that every hard earned $$$ you
forked out was worth it? Totally.
Kooza,
according to the blurb is “a return to our origins. KOOZA combines acrobatic
performance and the art of clowning, while exploring fear, identity,
recognition and power.” It goes on “The Innocent's journey brings him into
contact with comic characters from an electrifying world full of surprises,
thrills, audacity and total involvement.” Whatever. It may be revealing myself
as a philistine but I don’t think I’ve followed a “plot” in any of the shows
I’ve seen. Do I care? Not a jolt. I saw people doing things that should not be
possible for two hours plus. They contorted, balanced, flipped, clowned,
gyrated and showed a complete disregard for such things as the laws of gravity.
If circus was an Olympic event, the degree of difficulty of most of the acts
would be off the chart. Take something that should be impossible on the ground
and then do it on a high wire, on a bicycle, without a net. That sort of thing.
But that’s only half the story as to why this is such a spectacular performance
experience. No one leaves the tent singing the praises of the lighting but the
production values – costumes, sound, lighting, music and staging – all combine
to create a show that is magic. And if you need another reason – a dog might
cock its leg and wee on you. Yep, something for EVERYONE.
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