Monday, 10 August 2020

THEATRE REVIEW: Toruk: The First Flight - Cirque Du Soleil - The Bell Centre, Montreal, Canada.


Inspired by James Cameron's 'Avatar', this circus spectacular has been designed and directed with Cameron's help and blessing. Created by Michel Lemineux and Victor Pilon for Lightstorm Entertainment and the whole show was directed by Adrian Wills.

Cirque Du Soleil are a Canadian company who specialise in theatrical spectacular using contemporary circus performers, singers, dancers, musicians, and sometimes even clowns, all of whom are international stars and at the very top of their respective games. The set design, costumes, make-up and whole mise-en-scene is also given the same consideration, and nothing is ever left to chance or slipshoddyness. These shows are the epitome of the word spectacle, and they never disappoint.

With this particular show, filmed at the Bell Centre in Montreal, we are taken on a fantastical and mythical journey as we follow the fortunes of two boys and a girl, lost in the superbly created landscape of forest, waterfall, rocks etc, searching for their tribe. Tasked with finding and procuring the 5 sacred objects, they are then reunited with their loved ones. It is a story of adventure of epic proportion.

The choice of music, the lighting, in fact everything perfectly created the correct tensions and allowed the audience to emote, sympathise and react to every part of this fantasy superbly. Story and theatricality in this show was one of the best I have witnessed from this company. Unusually their stories are much more abstract with the emphasis on circus performance rather than narrative; whereas here I felt it to be the other way round and this worked very much in the show's favour.

Available to watch on Youtube.

Reviewer - Frances Middleton.
on - 10/8/20

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