Have you ever had an extremely weird dream, or even nightmare, when you don’t know how to feel about it when you wake up from it? When you can no longer draw a thick line between what is scary and what is simply weird? Or even what is hilarious? Well, this is how I felt when I left the Grand theatre after spending over two hours watching the very special Circus of Horrors, the mental metal circus of hell.
I accepted the opportunity to review this show for a series of reasons, the outstanding one being how convincing and well promoted the show seemed to be. Both circus and horror films have always fascinated me in positive and negative ways.
As soon as it started, a series of mixed feelings came into my mind. The well talented musicians performing good rock music soundtrack made the show very dynamic and entertaining. There were some really good songs and amazing acrobatic shows. However, there were some aspects of it that made me feel weird. Like in any other circus, I do not always like the ethical policies behind it. I am not trying to suggest that there is a lot of offence in it, but I should warn our easily offended generation: there is a fair amount of strange dark humour.
A great thing about this show that I could not avoid admiring is how involved the staff was with the audience. However, anyone with a phobia of clowns should reconsider the location of their seats, and make sure that you are not sitting in the stalls. Reason? Well, unless you like the idea of a scary clown jumping from behind and climbing his way to the stage from the back of the room, and maybe spray you with water or messing your hair, then I would not take a risk. From the moment when they warned the audience about it, along with the inevitable adult language and sporadic nudity based actions, I could not stop checking the back of the room to make sure that there would not be a clown jumping on my seat but it still inevitably happened. It was not a very pleasant moment of my life.
The intensity of the show, however, suffers a mild decline towards the end. Some magic tricks, however entertaining they seemed, were fairly easy to understand how they were performed. That is why I would give more credit to the acrobats. There were some incredible moves that I had never seen before, especially in such a small stage. The whole ambience was very well achieved in terms of characters and decorations.
Despite the minimal flaws that I have mentioned, I would recommend this play but preferably to two types of generations. I believe that sixteen year olds along with their outgoing and fun parents and uncles would like this show more than a university student or a theatre passionate person. There is not much depth in the messages, and the story structure is not really defined. However, it is the perfect show for someone who wants to spend some time laughing and covering their eyes at the same time. You can expect to witness a man who swallows swords, a midget that can lift a lot of weight with a particular part of his body, and gorgeous girls that dance very well and don’t seem to have a problem taking their clothes off in front of the audience. My special mention will go to Steph, the acrobat girl who performed amazingly and was so kind when I went to congratulate her.
In conclusion, I think that The Circus of Horrors: Welcome to Carnevil is a perfect show for those who don’t mind a bit of cheesiness from time to time, all combined with loud music, special effects and the strangest and impossible to explain humour… I could perfectly see these incredibly talented people performing in rock bands all around the world in front of thousands of people.
