Review: Cirque De Soleil: KURIOS, Royal Albert Hall
Photo credit: KURIOS – Cabinet of Curiosities/Mathew Tsang
Cirque Du Soleil at the Royal Albert Hall, could there be a bigger spectacle? We thought we’d go along and see for ourselves last night.
The story of Kurios, if we were to loosely summarise, follows an inventor/mad scientist as he gets lost in the world of the industrial revolution with a heavy steam punk twist. Whilst the story line is barely present, you don’t find yourself feeling hard done by; in fact, quite the opposite as you witness jaw dropping, gravity defying performances soaring above your heads. The prodigious Royal Albert Hall perfectly facilitates this dream factory and you truly believe you could be on another planet.
As to be expected with Cirque du Soleil, every single act is at the top of their game, and you know you are in a room with the creme de la creme of performers from around the world. From a majestic contortionist trio that can do things with their body that we physically didn’t believe was possible, to a yoyo artist who is so adept at what he does, the mind boggles at just how many hours it must have taken to achieve this level of skill.
Cirque are the best at knowing how to evolve and transcend the acts that audiences have come to expect in their shows, and they have achieved this once again by adding an aerial dynamic to a number of the acts. We were especially delighted watching Louis-Phillipe Jodoin juggling clubs whilst suspended high in the air and could barely watch with nerves when Volodmyr Klavdich, way above ground, sends Ekaterina Evdokimova tumbling through the air before catching her hands last minute. One sweaty palm, one hand out of place and the results could be disastrous, but the pair are clearly masters at what they do and couldn’t have been more in sync.
To give the audience’s heart rate some time to return to its normal state, there are some much needed and well thought out clown acts. Ranging from a genius invisible circus act performed by Facundo Giminez and probably a dozen people behind the scenes, and a scene when an audience member gets invited onto the stage and is subject to numerous animal impressions. Whilst not to everyone’s taste, we thought this scene was funny, expertly performed physically and came at a welcome time in the show.
The set and the costumes (Stephane Roy and Phillipe Guilote) are bizarre, freakish and fabulous, and have clearly had a tremendous amount of time spent on them. They really help transform the show into something special. Kurios has something for everyone and will transport you to a crazy mechanical dimension of joy and utter TALENT. Sitting further back isn’t a bad idea for this one so you can take in and marvel at the show as a whole.
This was our first time reviewing a Cirque show. Would we go back again for a second helping? Absolutely, no one does it better.
An alien amalgamation of metal cogs, iron will and complete wonder.
**** Four stars
Reviewed by: James Edge
Cirque du Soleil’s Kurios plays at the Royal Albert Hall until 5 March, with tickets available here:
https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/united-kingdom/london/kurios/buy-tickets
