Ever since her introduction to the world in 1865 by Lewis Carrol, Alice and her adventures in Wonderland have captured the imagination of children and adults alike through books, film, musicals, songs, ballets, operas, television shows, statues, video games and even stamps.
Cirque Alice now adds circus, acrobatic, dance, comedy and visual storytelling to the list, brought to the stage by producers Tim Lawson and Simon Painter (The Illusionists, Circus 1903 and Le Noir!).
Just like Alice’s adventures through Wonderland, Cirque Alice is a fantastical adventure, filled with merriment, marvels and miraculous moments.
Whilst there is very little dialogue or traditional scenes to take us through the journey, there are three main storytellers.
Australian lyric soprano Layla Schillert as Alice guides us by her stunning voice through classic arias such as ‘Flower Duet’ from Delibes’ Lakmé and ‘Ave Maria’.
The White Rabbit, played by Raphael Papo, uses his violin as his voice through unexpected instrumental arrangements of modern electronic and orchestral mixes of pieces including ‘Swan Lake’ and ‘Flight of the Bumblee’.
This gives the audience familiarity and grounding in a show that you never know what creature you are going to be dazzled by next.
The trio are deftly rounded out by acclaimed comedy magician Paul Dabek as the Mad Hatter. For me, his routines were some of the most delightfully unexpected moments of the show. I don’t think I’ve laughed as much at a magic routine as I did with Dabek’s Hatter (or as he dubbed himself Temu Willy Wonka) with jokes and innuendos that were bitingly clever – alongside some incredible magic/illusions!
The other performance that simply took my breath away was the aerial act of the Flamingos. Anna Stelmakh and Evgenii Slepukhin (as Duo Daylight) were, without sounding trite, simply magical and I can’t recall being so captivated by an aerial performance in some time. It was heartachingly beautiful whilst at the same time strong, powerful and full of grace.
There are so many more magical and mysterious creatures from Wonderland that inhabit the stage. From the acrobatic thrills of the Tweedles (Temesgen Adole Zada and Leul Derreje Ashebir), the Snap-Dragonfly (Vladyslav Tsarov) and the Knights (America’s Got Talent winners Fadhili Rashidi and Ibrahim Mwaimise) to the contortionist wonders of the Caterpillar (Munkhjin Tuvd, Bayarmaa Ganbat, Shinechimeg Otgonbayar, Dolgorsuren Ganbold) and the Queen of Hearts (Veronika Ivanova).
Cirque Alice paces at a snappy 2 hours, which makes it the perfect show for the young and the young at heart this school holidays.
