REVIEW: Cirque Eloize's Saloon at the Peacock Theatre
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Phlex X
If you are at a loose end for things to do this half term, take yourself and the family down to the Peacock Theatre and check out Cirque Eloize's Saloon which is running until 21st October.
In its 11th run, Saloon takes traditional circus acts and weaves them together with music and a storyline to form a show. As the name suggests, it is set in the Wild West and populated by recognisable character tropes. And what a show it is. The cast are an incredible bunch of acrobats, musicians and dancers: standouts are Félix Puliot’s Bartender, and Justine Methé Crozat’s The Ambitious.
The soundtrack is pulsating from the off with a trio of wily musicians under (and at times over) scoring the action. It was a veritable smorgasbord of music, an eclectic jamboree of noise. Where else will you hear Nirvana, Black Eyed Peas and Cotton Eye Joe in the space of the same 90 minutes?
I was particularly taken by Sophie Beaudet playing the spoons, a skill that has eluded me and was the stuff of my childhood dreams.
The show starts with some gravity-defying of pole climbing acrobatics and sets the bar rather high. However, it fails to maintain the standard throughout. At times the comedic interludes were a little too long but where it is punctuated with amazingly breath-taking acrobatics, the venue was agog and audible gasps filled the space. And that is what I wanted more of: the daredevil aerobatics, more of Methé Crozat suspended by her neck from a twirling wooden chandelier; more of Jérôme Hugo’s awe-inspiring flips.
That being said, Saloon is a burst of frenetic energy fuelled by the pulsating score and very clever set and light design which transported you to the American frontier. It is a rootin’ tootin’ whip cracking, lasso twirling, horse riding, (yes horse riding) entertaining show.
Cirque Eloize: Saloon tickets are available, secure your tickets quickly before the end of its run at the Peacock Theatre.