The Great Moscow Circus.
Presented by Edgley Attractions. Majura
Park Shopping. April 6 – 25 2016.
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
One of my favourite Golden Books
as a child was the one that told of a Dad who took his young son to the
circus. The child entered an exciting
and magical world of elephants and horses, lions and tigers, chimpanzees and
clowns, trapeze artists and ladies in glittering costumes, riding bareback on
horses around the sawdust strewn ring beneath the big top.
The elephants may be gone, and
the lions, tigers and chimpanzees too. In their place the horses remain and now
camels, llamas and water buffalo perform to the gentle coaxing of a trainer of
the Moscow State Circus. The red-nosed clown with floppy shoes and baggy
trousers still warms up the audience with his burst balloon and mischievous
sprays of water into the crowd, but without a stooge companion, now performs
his slapstick with a raggedy doll to the absolute delight of my four year old
grandson, who suddenly gains a second wind of regaled laughter in the second
half of an evening show. Unfortunately his slightly older cousin missed out on
an afternoon nap and has succumbed to sleep. She would have loved to have see
the camels, llamas and buffalos prance and dance in well-trained unison.
Circuses are not what they used
to be. Sure, there is the fairy floss and popcorn to keep hungry mouths happy
while waving their light sabres and spinning colour wheels to light up the dark.
But my Golden Book circus with its naïve childlike illustrations and the
flavour of a bygone era of sawdust smells and Three Stooges clowning has become
a highly sophisticated display of extraordinary artistry. The Great Moscow
Circus has come to town and act upon act simply raises the bar higher until
audiences gasp in amazement at the daredevil, death defying feats of six motor
cyclists spinning and weaving their way throughout a large iron cage.
Imagine if you can two burley
gymnasts leaping onto a springboard and catapulting another high into the air
to sit upon a chair attached to a five metre pole. Or llamas leaping obediently
over two camels’ necks and under another. Gasp as the Cossack clad tightrope
walker slips from the rope and with his two hands firmly on the rope dangles
above the ground with no net below, only to lift himself up and perform a
skipping routine upon the narrow wire. Gaze in amazement as a lady and a man intertwine
within a hoop in a display of sensual, physical prowess. Be thrilled by the masterful acrobatics to
the rousing strains of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite. Be bewitched by the grace and delicate
elegance of the ballet dancer as she poises herself on points on the head of
her partner in a display of exquisite dance, physical balance and exotic
beauty. And hold your breath in fearful anticipation as this remarkable show
thunders to its grand finale with the fuel-propelled perils within the
steel-girded Cage of Death.
These are but a handful of the
amazing acts of the Great Moscow Circus, Each performance dazzles with talent,
discipline, showmanship and wonderment. My grandchildren sat enthralled,
laughing loudly at the clown or watching in wonder as the trapeze artist soared
through the air to the waiting hands of another across the ring. This is circus
on the edge of danger, rippling with suspense and vigorous applause of relief.
It is also the circus of style, graceful, athletic and timed to perfection.
Only the coaxing of volunteers
from the audience can be a more testing task. Young children flock eagerly to
test the clown’s strength in a tricky tug of war with hilarious consequences.
It is all done in good fun. However not all attempts at audience participation
work as well. They rely on the devil may care good will of the selected
audience members. It worked passingly well for Nino the Clown's mime orchestra,
but with awkward results when luring a
coaxed young lady in the front row to play the role of a stooge passenger in
the car. She was obviously recalcitrant, and perhaps tomorrow night the
Nino will choose someone more willing to enter the unpredictable world of
audience participation.
In any case the Great Moscow
Circus is a spectacular showcase of amazing skills that will entrance and
delight. It is a rare opportunity for Canberrans to see this international
sensation. The very small child of the circus, who challenged the clown to a
show of strength, may have been a stool, but beware, he’s cute enough to lure
any child to run away and join the circus and perhaps some older people too!
