Although I have already seen this show once before, and so my expectations were already high, the 2015 version of Cirque Berserk still managed to excel. From the outset, when the Timbuktu Tumblers made their way onto the dimly lit stage, before stunning the audience with their superb acrobatics, right the way through to the finale, when the Lucius Team of motorbike riders amazed everyone in their “Globe of Terror” routine, the whole show is packed with the very best that circus has to offer.
With over 30 performers in the company, all of the traditional circus skills are on show with jugglers, acrobats, aerialists, knife throwers, contortionists and dancers and then you add to that the more daredevil acts performed by the fantastic stunt team.
Even with the Assembly Hall Theatre stage expanded as far as it could go, the audience were perilously close as the tumblers landed just inches from the edge of the stage and even the enormous height that the venue offers was barely enough as the Tropicana Troupe of Cuban springboarders flew high into the lights above the stage.
For its sheer spectacle value, one of the main highlights in the show has to be the aforementioned “Globe of Terror” which appears at the end both halves of the show. The metal globe seems almost too small for one motorbike never mind adding more.
The Lucius Team took their act to dazzling new heights when, not only did they enlist the help of a very brave female who stood in the globe as two motorbikes spun overhead and around her, but they also managed to squeeze four motorbikes into the, relatively, tiny globe, with them all circling at the same time.
In a routine that is a tribute to, and a superb match for, the very best of the silent movie slapstick comedians like Keaton, Sennett, Laurel and Hardy and even the mighty Chaplin, Tweedy is a sensational physical comedian. With a combination of perfect comic timing, incredible physical dexterity and a knowledge of his profession that is second to none, he tickled the funny bones of adults and children alike.
This is an incredible show, not just because is shows circus acts in the comfort of a theatre, but because all of those acts are at the very top of their game, making the nearly impossible seem as easy as falling off a log!
***** Five Stars
