Tonight:
5°c
Sarah Frater's rating
Super-supple Chinese duo steal the show
By
Sarah Frater
18 Apr 2008
About halfway through Delirium, there are are two Chinese acrobats of such staggering skill that they almost stop the show. They don’t, of course, because Cirque du Soleil is too tightly a managed showbiz juggernaut to allow audience enthusiasm to derail its run-time, but the two acrobats very nearly do.
They are simply brilliant. Tiny and muscular, the pair barely break sweat as they spin from a single rope, faster and faster, climbing on and around each other in pretzel folds and fiendish knots that somehow lock and unravel.
The rest of the show is unexpectedly awful. Even if you’re not a fan of Cirque du Soleil’s big-scale events, you could always rely on them to put on a display of whizz-bang tumbling, juggling and acrobatics. Admittedly, there was also a storyline of tedious mysticism, Spandex costumes and Celine Dion-meets-Bonnie-Tyler music but there was also the thrill of watching great circus.
In Delirium, Cirque have inexplicably dropped most of it and gone instead for a show of “music, multimedia and gigantic visuals”. The result is a muddle of only OK video projections, average singing, and muddled pageantry that’s nowhere near as good as the Notting Hill Carnival — and that’s a free event (not counting the cost to taxpayers of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea).
Delirium has no stylistic or thematic consistency. There is no humour or innocence and not much originality. There are occasional moments of good circus, such as the Chinese duo, the solo male acrobat, and the hula-hoop girl but it feels cynical and looks like a hotchpotch of things you half-think you’ve seen before.
It is also surprisingly old-fashioned, with portentous voice-overs and dance routines that Pan’s People would shun.
It didn’t used to be like this. I remember seeing Cirque du Soleil at the Royal Albert Hall and being thrilled at the acrobatic daring. Cirque should leave rock shows to the rockers, and stay with what they do best. The audience clearly thought so. Many didn’t look like they’d pay to see this Cirque again.
Until 19 April. Information: www.the02.co.uk
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Reader views (8)
So typically British!
- Fredina, Farnham, England, 12/05/2008 23:00
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Oh dear, oh dear! I have been an avid fan of Cirque for years now but I have to say that this was truly awful! I worked in the theatre for over 10 years so saw a huge number of very bad shows and this one is way up on that list.
The stadium was so huge and our (£50) seats right at the back in the highest corner so we could only just make out the action on the stage and had to rely on the big screens for any better idea but these screens were constantly full of over the top, arty graphics that just distracted from the action on the main stage, that we couldn't see anyway... so frustrating, I nearly blew my top! This could have worked if had been staged in the RAH and with the emphasis on the performers and not the over the top graphics...plus in the seats there we would have got to see something!
- Db, London, 23/04/2008 17:17
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Absolutely awful. I had seen a show in Vegas 10 yrs ago which was absolutely amazing and was looking forward to this. Apparently this is like no other Cirque show (in a bad way!) The few good bits were the amazing acrobatics you expect to see at a Cirque show. The bad bits were way too much (average) singing (not what people go to see) and the so called multimedia experience, which in my opinion just didn't work. Being up in the rafters we hoped they would show the cool acrobatics on the big screen which they only did occasionally instead the production chose to focus on the singers and other video footage. Also why the see though curtain across the stage for parts of the show? I guess for the front projection which just obscured the few cool parts going on stage. All in all an awful event to be avoided at all costs (Pick another Cirque show to be dazzled at instead)
- Raj, London, 21/04/2008 15:50
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The worst stage performance I have ever seen. There were only about 4 or 5 actual acrobats (the Chinese duo were by miles the best) and the rest was just filler, or put another way, dros. Truly awful and very sad as I had been looking forward to a show of talent, awe inspiring visuals and acrobatics. Cirque should feel ashamed.
- S, London, UK, 21/04/2008 15:03
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What a let down. This event should never have been staged at such an enormous venue as the O2. Our seats were so far to the right of the stage and up near God that we couldn't see the high wire acrobatics. The lights rigging was in the way! We couldn't even bypass the absurdity of the theme and enjoy what acrobatics they did include.
- Paula Anderton, Feltham, Middlesex, 21/04/2008 10:52
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Imagine the worst possible Olympics opening ceremony crossed with Eurovision. Pretentious, clumsy and insulting people's intelligence. Quite possibly, the worst thing I have seen in recent years. I counted about 40 people leaving and we left halfway through. That said, the first 10 minutes gave me the giggles.
- Rg, London, 18/04/2008 12:52
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This was the worst show I have ever been to. We left after a hour and there was a steady stream of people leaving the show with us. The Chinese acrobats mentioned in the review were the highlight. Unfortunately they were only on for 5 minutes. The rest of the show comprised of bad 80's soft rock and uninspiring visuals.
- David, London, UK, 18/04/2008 10:47
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Sarah Frater should count herself lucky that she actually got to see the show.
We went last night and discovered that our tickets (far from the cheapest) were at the end of a row in a spot where it was impossible to see almost all the stage.
We complained and were given "better" tickets. Which were for seats a few rows back with the same problem and were already occupied!
Judging by the size of the crowd besieging the customer service desk we were far from the only ones with this problem.
By the time we found somewhere to sit that had a semi-decent view (and no better than that) at least half of the show was over.
A total disgrace from start to finish.
- Steve, London, 18/04/2008 10:43
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