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Reviewer: Val Baskott The Public Reviews Rating: Proverbially laughter is the best medicine and there is plenty of it in this wonderful quirky circus show from Brussels’ Les Argonautes. Four clowns, each with their own distinct expressive persona are playing a silent hide and seek around tall wooden blocks. “Boxes remember when they were trees, men remember they will end in a box” so they play games with blocks and boxes, hobby horses and balls. Play is key in this alternative world but when the games get too rough the big voice of Calm prevails. Sensitive and delicate theatre is mixed with pure circus and integrated with visual simplicity and a rich soundtrack. With compassion we are gently made aware of our own frenetic lives and the need to take time out and to play together. The show builds from its quiet beginnings to a clever jazzy vocal and instrumental finish. Les Argonautes have perfected a beautifully crafted show which comes to an end all too soon. To say more would spoil it so take the family along to enjoy the fun.

Writer:  Siobhan Nicholas Director: John Ramm Reviewer: Jo Beggs The Public Reviews Rating: In their younger days The Great Tourrinos toured the land, delivering magic, clowning and mind reading to audiences from Plymouth to Portree. It’s a hard life but tinged with just enough glamour to keep these two, Freddie (Chris Barnes) and his wife Grainne (Siobhan Nicholas) on the road. But the glamour suddenly turns to tragedy when a circus trick goes horribly wrong and their young son, a naïve accomplice in their William Tell apple-shooting spectacle, fails to avoid the bullet. And with that the Tourrinos are no more, as Grainne walks off stage and out of Freddie’s life forever. Or so he thinks as, alone, he tours second rate stages up and down the country, now a sour old man telling bad jokes and crooning gloomy songs. But tonight is the night he’s dreamed of. The night she walks back into his life to resurrect the old act, to do the show one more time. It should have stayed where it was. A glittering memory in an old man’s mind. Dolce Via is an hour and a half of dull, uninspired tricks, lacklustre clowning and stilted drama. It fails both to entertain with its showbiz turns or affect with its tragic story. In short, it’s a wearisome piece of theatre, which fails to live up to its enticing publicity or the company’s credentials. Chris Baines spent two years in America working with Barnum and Baily’s circus. Doing what? Here we get just five seconds of unicycling and a couple of predictable, poorly delivered magic tricks. Siobhan Nicholas’s previous drama, Hanging Hooke attracted critical acclaim as captivating drama. There’s little sign of that here. Nicholas claims that Dolce Via is inspired by the films of Fellini and Charlie Chaplin yet it [...]

Creators:Les Doigts de la Main Directors: Shana Carroll & Gypsy Snider Reviewer: Elizabeth Vile The Public Reviews Rating: Flying Entertainment in association with Theatrical Management Group’s production of Traces was a highly enjoyable, energetic show full of circus skills, acrobatics, dance and striking visual effects. The pace of the piece changed constantly and the combination of live and recorded music, as well as the use of projections and video footage kept the audience entertained from start to finish. The company was made up of five artists, three men and a woman who did a mixture of solo and group circus acts. Their enthusiasm and enjoyment for each other’s acts contrasted with their concentration and professionalism during their own. This, coupled with the technical aspects really helped to heighten the tension and excitement of the audience. The highlights for me had to be the finale of Act 1 and the finale of Act 2. I won’t spoil the surprise but the audible gasps that came from the audience. The standing ovation given by some audience members during the curtain call visibly demonstrated the effect the show had on a theatre going public that ranged from primary school children right up to the grand parents that accompanied them. I also enjoyed the sections that involved basketballs, skateboards, a large metal hoop and giant poles. The one area of the show that dimmed my enjoyment slightly was the connecting pieces that joined the individual acts together. These pieces gave the cast a chance to connect with audience by sharing snippets of their life. The audience were shown baby photos, found out about each performer’s character traits and about specific events in their lives. Although this was interesting I found it difficult to make these insights connect with the acrobatic acts that surrounded them and I could [...]

Director: Kristine Landon-Smith Reviewer: Ruth Lovett The Public Reviews Rating: Acrobatic skills combined with projection and theatre creates the story of Frank and Evie, two performers who create their own acrobatic dance act in a 1928 vaudeville theatre. Frank (Kaveh Rahnama) is a juggler with his own regular performance slot. One evening he is forced to share his dressing room with Evie (Lauren Hendry) who is the new acrobatic act. Very rapidly the two fall in love and go on to create their own double act, the Hot Dots whose energetic, high octane routines thrill audiences nightly. However the success on stage takes it toll on their relationship with Evie’s lust for fame overtaking her lust for Frank, the cracks soon begin to show and the relationship beings to break down. The acrobatic skills of Rahnama and Hendry are unquestionable with the pair performing some breathtaking stunts that leave the audience gasping with delight. Unfortunately the storyboard could do with some work. There a some long periods of inaction with Hendry or Rahnama moving around the stage silently contemplating their situation for unnecessary prolonged periods and while we appreciate the need to catch ones breath after a quick succession of fantastic acrobatic moves; it breaks the ebb and flow of the piece and makes it appear stilted in parts. The back story is nothing original and lacks creativity but does allow the pair to demonstrate the progression of the love story through a series of fast paced swing inspired numbers, a slow passionate section set to a love song and display anger and frustration at the relationship disintegrates; showing great musicality and the skill of choreographing the moves to the music in a stylish fashion. The use of the projection screen adds little to the performance and feels somewhat unnecessary but all told, [...]

By: Les 7 Doigts de la Main Director/Choreographer: Shana Carroll and Gypsy Snider. Reviewer: Poppy Helm The Public Reviews Rating: Traces is the second contemporary circus act from French-Canadian collective, Les 7 Doigts de la Main. First performed in Montreal in 2006, it has since enjoyed international success from London’s West End to New York. Midway through it’s first UK tour, Traces arrives in Salford. The performance opens to a ‘bunker’ in which five inhabitants explore what could be their last moments as an unseen disaster looms. A projector screen hangs on the back wall, showing the audience members gradually filtering from the theatre foyer into the auditorium as they too become part of this underground world. The title, Traces, is supposedly a reflection of the performer’s increasing desperation to leave their mark on the world before they go – not something easily realised without consulting the company’s website. There are moment of clarity in the snatches of monologue, but not enough to piece a coherent story together. However, this isn’t the sort of show that requires a narrative through-line; the performance is breathtaking enough on it’s own. The show opens confidently with a heavy bass-line and the performers flinging each other around on the stage. Had the soundtrack been available to buy on the way out, I would have; it’s an eclectic mix ranging from hip-hop to classical to riverdance-crossed-with-rock that hits the spot for every act. What starts off more as a mixture of dance and acrobatics becomes steadily more intense as the show progresses. Philip Rosenberg shines in the first act as he tumbles and balances on a statue of mannequin parts, throwing himself around it until he almost becomes part of the formation. Every post-interval act deserves a mention; the elegant harness swinging and frantic hoop acrobatics are particular [...]

Director: Dominic Champagne Composer and Musical Director: Violaine Corradi Choreographer: Michael Montanaro and Bill Shannon Reviewer: Sebastian Farrell The Public Reviews Rating: Attending your first circus is always going to be memorable, doing so at the age of 26 to arguably the world’s most successful circus company, to their production of Varekai, surrounded by soap stars and television celebrities will always make it just that little bit more special. Varekai is still a relative newcomer within Cirque du Soleil’s ever increasing arsenal of touring productions but it still remains one of its most popular and enduring. The story is very loosely based upon the Greek myth Icarus and his fall from the air whilst flying to close to the sun, the difference in Varekai is that Icarus does not fall to his untimely death in the raging sea but instead to a lush forest full of super human creatures and beings who try to show and teach him how to fly again. We start with Icarus himself getting used to life without his feathery new appendages by contorting and flying around inside what can only be described as a football net, following this, new and varying members of this strange new world take it in turn to show Icarus what they can do and in the process captivate and amaze audience members from young to old and particularly ‘new-to-the-circus 26 year olds’ like myself. We have contortionists, balancing acts, acrobatics, jugglers, clowns, and plenty of aerial performers all doing there bit to entertain us and help Icarus find his feet, or should that be wings, again. Creatively this production was outstanding, the set design by Stéphane Roy was simple and effective, a vast space for the acts to perform in surrounded by twenty foot high bamboo plants and Robin Hood-esque ladders and [...]

Creators: Les Doigts de la Main (The 7 Fingers) Director/Choreography: Shana Carroll and Gypsy Snider Reviewer: David Noble The Public Reviews Rating: Traces is fantastic entertainment. An eclectic collection of tricks and stunts, designed to amaze, shock and ultimately impress. Just another circus then? Well, no. Traces uses an almost sketch show format to allow the audience to engage with the five performers, all of whom reveal some strange snippets of information about their life throughout the show. Additionally a diverse and interesting soundtrack takes it away from unwanted circus clichés. Acts were choreographed in a simplistic way (not saying that they were easy to pull off!) so as to focus on the pure strength and athleticism of the performers, truly showcasing the astonishing fitness levels they have to reach. Highlights included a remarkable routine with a giant ring, a gravity defying catapult and a magnificent finale. The sketch show style, though it worked for the majority of the performance, was bound to be hit and miss in some respects. Some “sketches” were quite frankly bizarre, and the use of the OHP suggested a punt at profundity when really they would have been best to stick with humour, which was present throughout the show. The five performers; Antoine Auger, Antoine Carabinier-Lepine, Jonathan Casaubon, Genevieve Morin and Philip Rosenberg; were all likeable and entertaining, whilst being utterly mesmerising. The sheer variety of skills, from basketball to skateboarding, and from piano to roller skating, was absolutely mind-boggling. They are extremely talented people, and what’s more with a bit of charisma too. All in all, Traces is a memorable night at the theatre. High-octane and pulsating, one could gauge the effect it was having through the innumerable gasps and gaping faces of the audience! A standing ovation for a stand-out show. Until Sat 24th February

Created by: Les 7 Doigts de la Main Director/Choreography: Shana Carroll and Gypsy Snider Reviewer: Malcolm Wallace The Public Reviews Rating: There are plenty of circus style stage spectaculars doing the rounds these days the vast majority of which are stunning pieces of entertainment. But there can be a distinct lack of originality to some of these productions and a certain generic styling, which leaves audiences yearning for something that little bit different. Traces by Les 7 Doigts de la Main (The 7 Fingers) is just that, something different. First seen at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival and following successful seasons in London, New York, Montreal and Paris, Traces is currently mid way through a UK tour and is a show not to be missed! Combining traditional circus skills with urban sports such as basketball and skateboarding, an eclectic mix of dance styles and music, audio visual effects and some good old larking about, Traces is utterly fascinating from start to finish. Part of its success is that the whole thing is played quite tongue in cheek and the performers, whilst clearly highly professional, maintain a sense of fun and idiocy and relish making fun of themselves and each other. There are five performers, all very rounded in their abilities but each with individual specialist acts, which are highlighted at various points throughout the evening. Philip Rosenberg’s gymnastics item shows incredible strength and balance whilst Genevieve Morin’s aerial display is impressive in its flair and beauty. Antoine Carabinier-Lepine’s solo spot involving a large ring is stunning to watch. Antoine Auger faltered once or twice during some of his more tricky moves but carried on regardless and Jonathan Casaubon provides many moments of comic relief. Interspersed around these solo items are group set pieces which are varied and slickly choreographed. Particularly enjoyable is the skateboard [...]