Echo

Postcard Review by Caroline Russell-King

Show – Echo

Playwright/s/Composer/s – Writer - Mukhtar Omar Sharif Mukhter, Co-composers - Jade Pybus, Andy Theakstone, Rafael Beau, and Hugo Montecristo.

Production Company/Theatre space – Tent, Stampede grounds.

Length – 2 Act, 2 hours, 35 minutes (one intermission)

Genre/s – Circus with original music

Premise – A girl and her dog enter an alternate fantasy world of animals.

Why this play? Why now? – The show, like all Cirque shows, astonish and delight international audiences proving when humans co-operate with each other through art, excellence, athleticism, and extraordinary levels of trust we can create a beautiful world. International audiences, even the worn out, jaded, and cynical, can’t help but be thrilled.

Curiosities – What will the impact of future technologies have on these shows? While some theatrical shows have integrated elements of circus like silks or acrobatics, what would happen if the Broadway musical and Cirque were combined - not as a tribute to musicians and singers like MJ or the Beatles but as yet to be seen crossover. Someone’s going to do it someday; will I be around to see it?

Notable Moment – The beauty of the vertical ballet made me tear up; the contortionist made me squeal, but it was the unexpected puppetry that left its mark.

Notable writing – As a jukebox musical attempts to tell a story by stringing songs together so does Cirque, but with a lot more variables. This creates more of an abstraction than a narration; the audience superimposes meaning onto a sequence of events. One can layer on their politics and point of view as they see fit. What is impressive is the restraint of didactic messaging i.e., “polar bears are dying, climate change is bad, animals need to be protected and respected”. The emphasis is on circus art and entertainment.

Notable performances – There is a juggler, a contortionist with acrobats, dancers, wire walkers, trapeze artists, puppeteers, vertical ballerinas, and clowns. These are world class international touring performers.

Notable design/Production – Sometimes one equates circus with a dazzling array of spandex, feathers, and sequins. Here the designers have opted for a different aesthetic. The overall design looks deceptively simple as if the costumes were made of crepe paper and the props are cardboard boxes. Pops of colour on the monochromatic costumes look as if they were dipped in ink or spraypainted accentuating the artistry and overall cohesion of design. The projections too are restraint in colour eschewing a James Hood Beatifica or Disney animation. For children especially, this makes what they see seem magically obtainable.

Notable direction – Mukhtar Omar Sharif Mukhter assembles and showcases excellence. 

One reason to see this show – It’s an astounding triumph. Critics don’t get to use those words very often.