THE BALLOON MAN

Grand circus with a dark side


 

from:  iol.co.za
May 30 2012 
By Paul Eksteen 
Le Grand Cirque Adrenaline 
Venue: Joburg Theatre 
Until: June 17 
Rating: **** 
One day I’ll get to tell my children that I was in the circus. Well, actually, one day my daughter will get to remind me that I was part of a circus act. 


Perhaps on that far-off day, she’ll again, as she did last week, tell me that I was the best performer on stage. May she forever remain as sweet. My embarrassment currently knows no bounds. Let’s just say my act involved a pelvic thrust or three. In tandem with a clown. Moving on. 


That I even made it to the stage was largely due to the captivating clown slash ringmaster who commandeered the spectacle that is Le Grand Cirque Adrenaline. 


Amid the extravaganza of death-defying acts, it was his stripped-down physical comedy vignettes that were, for me, the standout performance of the show. 


It wasn’t the classical clown performance of circuses of yesteryear – there were no oversized shoes and orange wigs. Instead, here was a clown drawn from the whimsy of Charlie Chaplin and the dark, street-smart cabaret of Tim Burton movies – the perfect metaphor for a circus that had long since cast aside the spectre of mangy lions and that lingering manure smell. 


On the relatively small stage of the Joburg Theatre (compared to a big top), the performers of Le Grand Cirque Adrenaline brought forth a big show, teetering on the brink of disaster, drawing appreciative applause from an enthusiastic crowd. 


At the centrepiece was the Globe of Death, a metal ball in which three steely-nerved bikers criss-crossed their machines within a polony-skin of certain injury. Playing games with the Grim Reaper as well were the performers on the Wheel of Destiny, a ferris wheel like no other, with the performers walking on two spinning drums atop a revolving pivot, and barely making it out alive. 


As if that wasn’t enough, they then did it blindfolded. Their missteps left the audience with their hearts in their mouths. I didn’t spot a safety net anywhere. 


Equally captivating was the balancing act, a show testing the bounds of physics that rivals the extreme concentration of the highwire walk. 


Here, the performer kept himself upright on top of what looked like haphazardly placed empty coffee tins. Playing to the crowd in his second-skin outfit, this guy had a rock-star element about him, however glam. But there was no posturing about his act, a gripping set in which the audience got a front row seat to just how close to the edge he was pushing his skills. 


In a little under two hours, Le Grand Cirque’s many performers kept up the energy with little snippets of what must have taken years of training. 


The show feels like a highlights package, testament to a tightly crafted spectacle that gives you the best of what the old circus had to offer. Remixed, of course, for a modern audience. 


And with enough of the wow factor to keep you talking about it for years to come.