Docklands – Theatre Press

Gorgeous and gritty circus theatrics

By Leeor Adar

The Wonderland Spiegeltent’s Scotch & Soda is a riot of mad-hatter-esque lunacy and junkyard jazz. It’s definitely more than a little something, something, and encapsulates the grassroots of carnival whilst injecting that dirty, depression-era feel.

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Elaborate costumes and performances litter the circular stage and one genius act after other flows, much like the scotch and soda. Having witnessed several other circus performances as of late, what sets Scotch & Soda apart is the style and theatrics presented to us. It’s rambunctious, wild and pretty much guaranteed to have audience members gasping and laughing at the same time.

We are presented with a diverse range of acts which twist the classics. Balancing at obscene heights on even more obscene objects, the performers often use one another with assured physicality to push the limits of their bodies and our racing hearts. Definite highlights include watching a ‘drunken’ tango of sorts between performers turn hilariously violent, and one performer dangle and contort himself precariously over a toilet with mad abandon.

There is however the occasional slip, but I expect this is the usual business of opening night. Hopefully the drum kit will not tumble off stage! Yet given the highly physical and wild quality of Scotch & Soda, there is the expected element of uncertainty.

Setting the night further alight is the incorporation of the Uncanny Carnival Band, which features some of Sydney’s best jazz musicians. The band were evidently enjoying themselves as part of the night’s theatrics, and at one point we were treated to a sax solo whilst a performer spun the musician in circular motions, only adding to the absurd wonder of it all. Scotch & Soda certainly gave every band member a chance to shine, whether it was a drum or sax solo, and a hilarious incorporation of the cellist who at one point walked down the aisle with his curvaceous instrument.

Scotch & Soda is not your average fun night out, but I guarantee you will enjoy every minute of it as you are lured into a world of carnival and mayhem.

Scotch and Soda is performing most nights at 8pm until the 23 October at the Wonderland Spiegeltent (Docklands), you can purchase tickets here: https://www.wonderlandspiegeltent.com.au/whats_on/event/4d558803-8cbb-4351-9218-e2be71c6ff4a

An exotic and mesmerising world of wonder and whimsy

By Tania Herbert

As a cheesy American accented voiceover runs through the sponsors, I begin to wonder whether my Cirque du Soleil experience will be all it’s cracked up to be. But I have little to fear. As the lights go down we get a strobe flash of a giant globe of light and impossibly iridescent costumed inserts perched in impossible positions around and above us, and then the show begins.

To describe Cirque du Soleil’s Ovo is a little like trying to describe a particularly gravity-defying dream. In some ways, Ovo is classic circus. The colourful ringmaster guides us through acts of clowning, acrobatics, tumbling, aerials and jugglers. However, with Cirque du Soleil, everything is turned on its head – often literally. Not only is there juggling, but its foot juggling (while balanced on someone else’s feet). The tight rope is, instead, a slack rope- on which the performer rides a unicycle, on his face (yes, his face).

However there is so much more to the story. The enigmatic “Ovo”, or egg in Portuguese, is the centerpiece of the insect world we are invited into, linking the performances and performers in both overt and subtle ways. The Brazillian-themed piece weaves in multiple elements- the samba and bossa nova-inspired soundtrack (by composer and musical director Berna Ceppas) is played live on stage by cockroach-costumed performers (the beautiful Marie-Claude Marchand a particular highlight) with lyrics in Portuguese and insect-inspired sound effects. The insects chatter to us and each other throughout, with the lack of words adding to the sense of mystique. The rich three-dimensional sets and phenomenal costuming (by costume designer Liz Vandal) finish off this psychedelic Alice-in-Wonderland-type dreamscape.

And then there are the performances. The aerial silk is a butterfly emerging from a cocoon, the comical worker ants juggle giant pieces of fruit, and the spider contortionist leaves us really wondering how many legs she actually has. The mastery of their art in effortless acrobats and gymnastics are thrown at the audience without breaking pace, and the show moves flawlessly from act to act, with even set changes being integrated into the performance and beautiful to watch. The finale is the definite highlight, where we see crickets and spiders leaping and crawling up an eight-metre rock wall while giant mechanical flowers and showers of petals appear magically from the roof.

There were some small opening night “jitterbugs” – a dropped diabolo cup, a missed rope – and the premiere atmosphere was lacking by the relatively small number of children in the audience for whom some of the slapstick clowning was clearly targeted.

However, the circus magic was in full force, and it wasn’t only the kids who were literally screaming with excitement. Gluttony for the imagination, Cirque du Soleil’s Ovo is the absolute elite of international performing.

Venue: “The Grand Chapiteau” and Cirque du Soleil’s mobile village in New Quay, Docklands

Season: Jan 17^th – March 24th

Tickets: http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/ovo/tickets/melbourne.aspx