Director: Franco Dragone.
Starring: Cirque du Soleil company.
Synopsis: Young Zoé is bored; her parents, distant and apathetic, ignore her. Her life has lost all meaning. Seeking to fill the void of her existence, she slides into an imaginary world—the world of Quidam—where she meets characters who encourage her to free her soul.
Quidam, one of Cirque du Soleil’s oldest shows, a two-hour epic production featuring diabolo spinners, trapeze artists, contortionists, jugglers, pantomime clowns and skipping masters, returns to the Royal Albert Hall for its last hurrah in 2014.
Originally performed in 1996, Quidam is the company’s ninth, and indeed most popular touring show, and while the production values may not be on as grand a scale as perhaps some of their later efforts, you cannot fail to marvel at the quality and pin-perfect precision of the world class acrobatic artistry on display.
Set within the confines of a young girl’s imagination, the world of Quidam (a name which also relates to a headless character with a bowler hat, who shows up throughout) is brought to life by a cast of 42 artists, from 19 countries wearing over 250 costumes.
The brief, but final 2014 revival once again finds itself in the hallowed Royal Albert Hall, such a perfect setting for such a perfectly crafted production. From it’s gleaming metal arch suspended from the famous hall’s mushroom-filled dome, looking down onto a revolving grand big-top style centre circle, you cannot help but gulp in awe at the grandiose intentions, and that’s before we get even a glimpse of our lead ‘clown’ John, teasing the ringside crowd as the show steadily kicks into motion.
What follows is 120 minutes of pure wonder, standouts being the superb four-diabolo set-piece, the astonishing slow-motion test of male and female strength in hand balancing (see below), and the Aerial Contortion in Silk, a solo act of beauty, performed by the only Britosh artist in the company, Julie Cameron.
The world in which this production inhabits may not appeal to all (think of it as a PAN’S LABYRINTH meets Barnum and Bailey by way of the eccentricity of Michel Gondry and you’ll be somewhere near), but a Cirque Du Soleil production whould be something everyone experiences in their lifetime. Quidam, while nearly 20 years old, and hugely expensive in terms of ticket price (a single seat can set you back up to £100), ranks as one of their best, and we urge you to catch this before its final curtain falls in 2014. A true spectacular of a show for all ages.
[usr=4] QUIDAM is running until 16 February 2014 at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
