Animal cruelty and those hideous big-top clowns have done much to dent the image of circus over the years, particularly in London. Personally, I don’t much like being scared out of my wits either and certainly not in the name of entertainment, so perhaps reviewing neo-circus experience ‘Cirque Berserk’ was a terrible idea. But in practise: not so! First: as many people know by the prefix ‘Cirque’ this is not a circus in the traditional sense, more an amazing performing troupe of crazy stunts and thrilling acts. Second: there are no animals! The menagerie of startlingly impressive acrobats, trapeze artists, motorbike stunt riders, and knife throwers, to name but a few, are all there of their own accord.
And there’s a deep joy to be had at this intermingling of the acts that becomes the glue of that wow factor, even for me: the trapeze ladies climb down to help clear the stage for the next act; a girl in a jar shooting arrows (Odka). The hilarious and not-at-all-hideous clown type man (minus any scary face paint and more like a cockney muttering Charlie Chaplain but actually called Tweedy) weaves brilliantly in and out of the fierce couple with the fighting things (officially named Bolas Argentinas) who then lead on to Kremena and her impressive balancing. Dancing girls stomp around provocatively with the opening Timbuktu Tumblers, while Germaine Delbosq foot-juggles with fire until you are unsure when one act ends and another starts, until they pose for you to applaud. The most glorious and impressive of all the acts was the catapulting Tropicana Troupe who are physically gorgeous and yet throw themselves so high in the air that they are the only act requiring a safety harness. That means everyone else is doing it with no safety net at all. The finale is the gasp-worthy, frankly unbelievable Globe of Terror with motorbikes riding about in a small spherical cage… being joined by more motorbikes in that small spherical cage… until there is very much more ‘motorbike’ than there is cage and, ugh, it was terrifying.
BY: SARAH PEACH