I remember years ago my Mum telling me about this circus she’d heard of ‘It sounds totally amazing and out of this world’ she said. I have always remembered her saying that and whenever I hear anyone speak of Cirque Du Soleil I think of my Mum. Naturally then, when I was invited to the premiere night of their new show KOOZA, which is on at The Royal Albert Hall in London until 19th February 2015, it was my Mum that I chose to accompany me to the star studded event!
We were in good company at the Royal Albert Hall with Donna Air, Derren Brown, Brendan Cole, Jon Culshaw, Sarah Harding, Arlene Philips, Lisa Snowdon, Craig Revel Horwood, Jaime Winstone and Jo Wood being just some of the celebs in attendance and I can only assume, that providing they are of sound mind, they loved it too for I simply don’t see how anyone could not!
We had high expectations, very high. 30 years of Cirque reputation fell before KOOZA and we were thoroughly looking forward to an evening of decadence with KOOZA being a return to the origins of Cirque du Soleil combining two circus traditions – acrobatic performance and the art of clowning. Often when you go in expecting something amazing you leave feeling a little disappointed so I was absolutely prepared for that to be the case although I simply couldn’t dampen my excitement at the prospect. It needn’t have even crossed my mind that KOOZA might not live up because in actual fact, it far, far exceeded our expectations and from our second row ringside seats we saw the circus like we’ve never seen the circus before.
An explosion of colour in costumes and lighting we see The Innocent (a baby clown) learn about life from The Trickster (a sort of ring master) and with help from other characters including a life sized dog a storyline is dangled between the acts, live music and singing. It was perfect in a way the circus usually isn’t meant to be and as mastered as a west end performance which goes against everything you think of when you think of this genre. It IS the circus but it is also as far removed from it as it possibly could be. It is entirely in a class of its own and quite simply one of the most breath taking, amazing and wonderfully unusual yet brilliant things I have ever, ever seen. I sat in my seat willing it not to stop and held my breath with every death defying act.
Men were running in hoops that are rotating high in the sky (an utter highlight), contortionists wrapped around each other like snakes and acrobatics to make you gasp. Everything, EVERY single act, is worth seeing at KOOZA and I especially enjoyed the creativity of the set which was tent like and constantly on the move. Oh and that Trickster fellow… Well he’s almost worth the trip on his own! Camp as Christmas and extremely heavily made up you might not immediately think that sex appeal would be next on the list of things said about him but I assure you that tricky acrobatic lead character is simply oozing with it! As he flirts with the acts AND the audience you can’t help but feel strangely drawn to him… You can’t help but fall in love with the whole show!
I came away utterly stunned and so did my Mum. I’d go back and see it again given half the chance and can absolutely say I’d pay full whack for a ticket too. The best part of a hundred quid for the seats we had are absolutely worth every penny although I think at just turned five it’s not something I would take Florence to until she’s a little older. It was a touch dark and twisty (Greys fan here) and also quite sexually charged in places so for me, it’s not one for very young children but for the rest of us, an absolute must! Even seats way up high and at the back would be brilliant for this show as much of it is up in the air but if you can, book ringside, it was absolutely awesome! This is not just a trip to the circus or theatre, this is an experience you will remember forever and when you hear all the hype believe it! It absolutely deserves every single word!
I was offered complimentary tickets to the premiere of KOOZA in return for an honest review.
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