Even from our nosebleed section at the top and off to the side of Varekai we could see that this was a quality performance. Varekai tells the story of Icarus who falls from the sky and into this strange world of insects and coloured creatures to find love. “Varekai” means “wherever” in the Romany language of the gypsies apparently and so the show is a tribute to the wanderer in us.

Although still applying the tried and tested Cirque Du Soleil formula “Varekai” still somehow finds new and innovative ways to deliver it. It was an enigmatic, passionate, colourful and wonderful mix of circus, theatre, drama and spectacle.

Tonight we saw some pretty neat tricks – including the leading lady who balanced normally one-handed on canes while contorting her body like she had no bones, the juggling artis who was awesome (including a very tricky boomerang-straw-hat juggle), four ladies on a triple trapeze if you can imagine (marks for innovation here), the three small people (I’m yet to work out whether they were kids or midgets) working with whirling ropes in the air whilst performing gymnastics on the ground, one man who performed amazingly in crutches (not sure if he was disabled in real life) and the finale with the tumblers who torpedoed each other off these gangplanks into giant sails. There were a few other acts as well but these stand out the most.

The music was pretty amazing for a very small ensemble band and the styles ranged from French to Hawaiin, and Armenian to gospel music. Quite the variety and perfectly timed to the acts on stage. The set was also amazing – with giant bamboo trees in the background and a funky catwalk swinging up above. If there is one thing you can never fault in a Cirque Du Soleil performance (apart from the talent of the acts on stage, the impeccable timing of artists, musicians and lighting, um … you get my drift) it is the show’s ability to use every bit of space available (above and below the stage) to them and the extreme attention to detail (the fireflies were very cool.) I can imagine just how much engineering goes into the mechanics on and off the stage. And then the costumes – just brilliant.

So, it probably sounds like I’m giving a rave review right? Well, no doubt about it this is another slick Cirque Du Soleil performance and for sure I enjoyed the talents on display tremendously. But I was slightly disappointed. However amazing the individual aspects of the show were (the music, the set design, the costumes, the talent of the acts) when taken together it was … well a tad boring. The story was confusing and to be honest I really could have done less with all that clowning. These clowning fill-ins seemed to take longer than the other acts themselves and to me at times interrupted the flow of the show. One person said sometimes you just have to suffer to get to the cream – I felt we “suffered” more than we needed to. The fact that the climax or finale (one of the highlights) came right at the end seemingly after some of the acts had started bowing was strange timing indeed. And up until then I was thinking – when is the big wow act going to come on?

For those who have never seen a Cirque show this will probably stun and amaze. For those who have – well, although a nice entertaining night, there are definitely better ones out there (such as Dralion which toured here a few years ago.)

(Oh and as I was walking home from the Royal Albert, as if the work out during the show wasn’t enough, I saw a whole troupe running by me I guess warming down. Kind of puts me to shame as I can’t even get out of bed to go for a run let alone after a 2.5 hour performance!)