Cirque du Soleil's latest offering, Ovo, opened last night with a bang under the big top at Docklands.
Providing the perfect escape from the near 40 degree temperature outside, Ovo is a magical experience for all ages.
Once the lights went down, we were immediately transported into a magical eco system of insects, beautifully represented through Liv Vandal’s inspired costume designs.
A mysterious egg – or "Ovo" becomes an item of fascination to a variety of insects. We are even treated to a love story between The Foreigner, an attention seeking fly (Barthélémy Glumineau) and a sassy Ladybug (Michelle Matlock). The narrative is simple and is a nice segue between acts.
Remarkably there was little to no spoken word used – the characters are created using mostly gibberish and mime. This didn't limit the comedy, with plenty of slapstick, farce and Commedia Dell'Arte on show here.
Insect Master Flipo (Simon Bradbury) exceled in this area and managed audience participation beautifully.
It was wonderful to see such a multi-cultural cast – the program revealed origins such as Kazakhstan, Ukraine, China and Canada. This is clearly a handpicked group of experts.
Ovo : Cirque du Soleil
As a Cirque du Soleil newcomer, I don’t think I expected such a vast range of acrobatic acts. The big top was used to its full potential, with acts as high as 14 metres and as low as peeping through trapdoors in the stage. The spectacular finale featured 20 artists running, jumping and leaping straight up an 8 metre wall.
Li Wei, as a Spider, balanced his body, a ladder and even a unicycle over a Slack Wire. Red Ants Cheng Jinna, Dong Mimi, Han Jing, Su Shan, Wang Shaohua and Zhu Bayou mastered the skill of foot juggling – one of the best acts of the night.
The Creatura (Lee Brearley) – basically a combination of human size colourful slinkies – provided plenty of giggles as it shimmied to the percussion. Ten Scarabs performed a stunning aerial act, where performers flew from the edges of the big top to a central platform, landing upright on the tight arms of two fellow Scarabs. Other acts included Contortion, Acrosport, Diabolo, Aerial Silks, Straps and Hand balancing.
The acts were extraordinary, but in large part due to the overall visual and aural experience provided. A beautiful 8 piece band, clad in Cockroach costumes, performed Bernie Ceppas’ score with finesse. The rich score completely complemented the action on stage, and ranged from evocative violin to soulful Brazilian percussion. Marie-Claude Marchand’s vocals added to the natural quality of the sound.
Gringo Cardia’s set design is an organic representation of nature, featuring the aforementioned wall, webs, caves and just about every other aspect of insect habitat you could imagine. During the wonderful Butterflies (aerial and ballet combined) sequence, a 20ft flower bloomed. It deserved its own applause!
Nets, harnesses and other safety equipment are woven into the design, and seamlessly fixed and removed; a credit to Writer Deborah Colker’s Direction and Choreography.
Cirque du Soleil appeals to all the senses and all ages. Escape the concrete of Docklands to the enchanting world of insects – you won’t be disappointed!
