CIRQUE: THE GREATEST SHOW

A title like the above is making quite a claim, and sadly not one that could be justified in the reality. Just a few weeks after so many of us watched the extraordinary feats of gymnastic excellence displayed at the Paris Olympics this confection simply does not make the grade. Add to this the much loved movie about PT Barnum and you are setting the bar very high indeed.

Cirque simply looked and sounded tired, not that it did not have some very good moments, a great costume change illusionist, juggler and crossbow act certainly stood out, all from the same team, but other than that things were pretty lame.

And linking the whole with a traditional mime act left far too much for him to do to cover some very clumsy transitions. I felt for him as he worked hard trying to hold a very young audiences attention with an art form that they had probably never even heard of  let alone seen.

The singers were good but not exceptional and at times the quality of their voices was drowned by a somewhat booming sound system which was a a shame, and many of their moments were spoilt by very poor lighting and clumsily missed lighting cues. Much could have been saved by ditching the over-used pyrotechnics and adding a follow spot, as it was they were often left in the dark, as were we the audience. Step Into The Light the publicity cried but too often it was dark. Where Musical Theatre Meets Circus it shouted but they simply did not meet, just crashed into each other clumsily.

The dancers had plenty of energy but were hardly challenged by the lacklustre choreography given them and the whole was place on a stage set that looked tired and uninspired.

As a concept, pairing the circus acts with singers and dancers simply diluted the whole, dividing our focus on a very wide platform and perhaps, just perhaps, the whole might be more cohesive in a less cavernous venue. But it would be unfair to blame the space as this show needs to be sharper, slicker and work harder to deserve the title it claims.

Andrew Kay

24 August

The Brighton Centre

Rating: