Shrieks, screams, laughter and gasps of amazement—I can’t think of a better way to spend a couple of hours on a cold, rainy Easter Monday afternoon in Inverness.
Combine the above with dazzling lights, costumes and show-stopping songs and of course you have Cirque: The Greatest Show, in Inverness for two days on its countrywide tour.
Massive hit last year
Cirque was a massive hit when it came to Inverness last year, and happily this year it was the school holidays so the Empire Theatre was packed with multiple generations.
It’s a show which works on many levels, so I’m sure the gents were thrilled by the sight of skimpily clad ladies swinging off chandeliers, while for the ladies, a fine array of bare-chested young men strutted their stuff.
And for everyone, it’s about the thrills and spills of dangerous stunts and exuberant, uplifting dance numbers.
However my 5 year old grandson had got the idea we were going to the circus and insisted on bringing his giant soft toy Mr Lion with us.
Mr Lion is at least as big as himself, so I was afraid we might get charged for another seat. But the Eden Court staff were extremely gracious, Mr Lion gained access and we somehow squeezed into our allotted seats.
Brilliant Christian Lee
Not embarrassing at all, although I had to squash Mr Lion’s head down quite often as he kept bobbing up in my line of vision as grandson squirmed about throughout.
The premise of the show, set out by the brilliant Christian Lee playing the mime who links the show the magic and hilarity, was one of those lost moments when I was otherwise engaged punching Mr Lion’s head.
However I gathered he had been living his life in monochrome before getting his first colour TV, and finding the world suddenly transformed into vibrant, exuberant full-on colour.
There followed breathtaking aerial and contortionist stunts, mainly performed by Jennifer Van Gool and Shonagh Leatherbarrow; a sizzling fire routine by Adam Boom; dazzling Cyr wheel and LED wand routine by Billy George.
Show-stopping songs galore
All this interspersed with plenty of show-stopping songs from the movies The Greatest Showman, LaLa Land, Rocketman and Moulin Rouge! not to mention a highly -skilled James Bond-style crossbow balloon-popping routine.
I laughed till I cried when Christian Lee, a former Britain’s Got Talent finalist pulled one unsuspecting man from the audience and made him learn unicycle with him.
Audience interaction
All in mime, including not letting the poor man leave the stage until he’d opened the invisible door to let himself out, the audience screaming ‘Door, door’ as the hapless victim became increasingly dazed and confused. What a good sport he was.
Lee pulled a second victim from the audience later on, and fell in love with her amid gales of laughter from the audience.
The feel-good show moves on to Blackpool now, but is in Perth and Glasgow in May if you missed it this time.
