Its rather amusing to me the number of shows that I drag my friends to where they don’t even know what they’re going to see – quite often on the night when we meet up the first thing they’ll ask will be: “what’s this about anyway?” I guess I should be pretty pleased that they trust my judgment enough to commit without even finding out what they’re getting into! Happily for the most part no one leaves dissatisfied and, thankfully, that “winning” streak continued tonight.
Tonight it was Laney’s turn to come out with me so we went along to the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith to see Soap – a circus type show with a difference. How you may ask? Well, its all in the name, kind of. All the acts are done in and around bathtubs! It’s a fantastically innovative idea and a great way to differentiate yourself from the numerous circus acts past and present.
On stage there are up to a maximum of eight performers and a minimum of one at any one time – each with their respective talents. Almost central to the show and keeping the theme of the show continuous are the non-circus acts: the opera singer and the clown. The opera singer was interestingly a centerpiece both for her visual impact and her voice. The clown, something you always see in these kinds of shows, kept things light and, well, funny though I did think they overused her a bit.
However the main highlights for me where the circus performers themselves. A bathtub is not a bathtub without water as Laney and I found out tonight. We were front row and I’m afraid were well in the splash zone though to be fair at times the splash zone even reached back to about the 15th row! Though we weren’t exactly drenched with each performance it was enough that we’d get a little damp and just as we dried off get damp again – kind of like intermitten drizzle! Totally fun though! Anyway, I’ve gone astray from the performances a bit! As I’ve intimated there was a lot of water involved in this show – whether it was in the bathtubs as the performers slid in and out it, or falling from above in a heavy shower – whatever the format it added a little something to the show.
So what exactly do you see? Well, aside from a bit of mincing around, and the group pieces there was specifically: Nata Galkina and her amazingly talented feet. It was kind of like juggling and throwing hoops etc. around with her toes but that doesn’t really do justice to her talent. We had Adem Endris with his juggling – against the ground rather than up in the air. Then the no doubt hottest man in the cast Michael Lanphear flexes his strength in a strap from the ceiling act (swinging up, down, around, and in and out of the tub). He also joined up with Nata Galkina and Masha Terentieva in a piece called “Love Scene” which involved two tubs, two girls and one man, and a lot of contortion, movement and balancing. You can kind of see where the story is going but you may be surprised by the ending (which I totally approved of!) Masha’s signature performance was up and down a pole – I was most impressed by her flaming red hair! Fernando Dudka known for his skill in handstandacrobatics also demonstrated his strength in a piece simply called Handstand – best description is kind of like the stuff you see the men gymnasts do on the rings and pommel horse but on the tub an in a much more fluid piece. He was amazing and towards the end of his act, when surely the lactic acids are desperately building up, he does this pose where he simply uses his neck to support his body – no words and describe! And finally a man who could make me cry with the way he moves – Francois Gravel. His signature piece is the dance trapeze and, involving a few of the other cast members, he does things with the trapeze which were simply beautiful. I was impressed with him the whole night in everything that he was involved with.
See it before it finishes its run – you’ll love it as much as we did!
