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Cirque Berserk! at The Orchard Theatre Dartford Review

31 January to 3 February 2018

Reviewed by Louise Watts

When I look back on my childhood and the visits I had to the circus with my parents, I remember a circus tent on the village green with various acts including trapeze artists, jugglers and the essential clown. I had a lovely time and remember sitting on the edge of my seat in trepidation watching the incredible swinging trapeze artists hoping desperately that they would not fall.

Fast forward from the early 1980’s and here I am taking my children to the see the circus hoping they enjoy it as much as I did as a child. This was no ordinary circus however, this was “Cirque Berserk!”. The name in itself gives you expectations as to what you can expect. In this ever-changing world, what does “Berserk” mean? Well if you want to find out, I suggest you attend one of their shows like I did, and I promise you will not regret it!

The Orchard Theatre in Dartford was home last evening to the opening night of a 4-day run of “Cirque Berserk”. I was lucky enough to be able to attend with my best friend and my 4 children aged 14, 12, 9 and 3 years. To say we were all a little excited would be an understatement. Cirque Berserk is now in its 5th year and is touring the UK from now through until the beginning of September. Marketed as a circus created for the theatre stage, what can you expect?

Well the show started by telling everyone to get your mobile phones out, take pictures, use them on your social media and videos welcome. Not the usual introduction to the theatre. You could see the audience frantically turning their mobiles back on having turned them off in preparation for the show. The show commenced with an acrobatic frenzy involving the Timbuktu Tumblers who made the most incredible display of shapes using all 7 acrobats. It looked so easy, we may try it at home but joking aside, the strength these men showed was immense. The upper body, core and balance were incredible. As if this wasn’t enough, their later acts involved flaming limbo poles and hoop jumping!

They had set the pace for the rest of the show… keeping up with that introduction was not going to be an easy feat! But manage it they did. We had a lady who once she had found her way out of a glass bottle managed to hit a bullseye on the archery target using her feet to fire the arrow. Talk about having a precise aim!

We saw a group called the Tropicana Troupe manage to bounce a man into the air and land on a seat around 15ft high and as if that wasn’t impressive enough, they made it look like a walk in the park. There was such a small room for error in all their tricks it was an absolute pleasure to watch.

My friend and my kids struggled to look when the knife thrower emerged. We had seen this duo before at the Santus Circus and were impressed then. I am not sure who I think is the brave one, Toni the knife thrower or his glamourous assistant. I looked at my friend at the end of their act and her hands were firmly fixed over her eyes!

A circus would not be a circus without the traditional “clown” figure. This came in the form of “Tweedy”, the comical slap stick star of the show. My 3-year-old son thought he was the funniest thing ever and was amusing us all by laughing out loud every time he came on the stage. He kept saying “this funny man is awful” meaning in 3-year-old language that he is very silly and very funny. Even today he is still talking about him and how he fell off his ladder amongst other things.

The show was fast paced and rhythmic in places. The set was simple, and I liked the way the acts helped add or remove props for different acts and so doubled as stage hands.

This is certainly not a show for the faint hearted and should really come with a health warning that it is not suitable for nervous people as some of the acts are bordering on dangerous to say the least. This show is certain to get your heart rate and blood pressure rising so only dare to come if you can cope with the excitement!

My favourite act has to be The Lucius Team and the Motorcycle Globe of Death – imagine a motorcyclist riding at speeds of up to 60mph in a globe on the stage, then add another motorcycle and a glamorous lady assistant… if this gets you buzzing you have to see the finale! I was on the edge of my seat throughout watching this most incredible act performing this live on stage for the first time in the UK.

To add to all of this there were incredible acrobats, a foot juggler, an aerial pole artist and a hand to hand duo. To say we were amazed was an understatement.

This show was breathtakingly good and scary at the same time. A true circus genius for all the family. I am not sure who enjoyed it more, us or the children.

The Orchard Theatre was as always, a lovely venue. It was nice to see it so busy and buzzing with people of all ages. There were a lot of “ooh’s” and “aah’s” from the audience and it was clear that everyone was having a lovely evening. There were bars for the short interval and food available before the show.

There is a coffee shop in the foyer selling drinks and snacks and a merchandise stand selling an array of circus items.

Parking was easy in the shopping centre car park next door and an evening’s parking is a mere £3 so easy and cheap which has to be a winner!

The running time was around 2 hours including an interval and it went all too quickly for us. I would recommend this show to everyone but make sure you can stomach the nerves and excitement first!

Rating: 5/5

Tickets cost from £15 to £29.50 / £34.50 to £44.50 with dining (booking fees may apply).

Cirque Berserk! is at The Orchard Theatre in Dartford from 31 January to 3 February 2018, for more information or to book tickets visit orchardtheatre.co.uk or call the box office on 01322 220000.

The Orchard Theatre, Home Gardens, Dartford, DA1 1ED | 01322 220000

5Star

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