Cirkopolis

Montreal’s Cirque Eloize takes inspiration from ‘Metropolis’, Franz Kafka and Terry Gilliam’s ‘Brazil’ for its latest ‘cirque nouveau’ production, ‘Cirkopolis’, which suggests we can all escape the horrifying daily grind by unleashing our own imaginations. It’s an idea that’s carried well through this exuberant show, which showcases impressive circus skills within a coherent narrative and leaves you feeling thoroughly buoyed up.

Clever immersive video projections plunge us into the bowels of a dystopian near-future city, where one lowly office worker (British Circus Space alumnus Ashley Carr) leaves behind his teetering piles of paperwork and witnesses the magical metamorphosis of fellow grey-suited drones as they embrace their inner artistes. Carr’s clowning is warmly entertaining – his tender transformation of a dress on a hanger into a girl to be wooed is delightful. He provides a grounding, everyman element amid the superhuman exertions of the rest of the troupe, who demonstrate great ability on the Chinese pole, trapeze, banquine, teeterboard and the terrifying German wheel (an 80kg hamster wheel that at some points holds six dancers as it trundles across the stage). Lea Toran Jenner’s dreamily romantic Cyr wheel performance and Jerome Sordillon’s mastery of the straps are notable highlights.

There are also some impressive group numbers, including mass juggling conceived on a Busby Berkeley-esque scale, a contortion act in which, thanks to five men, Maria Combarros never touches the ground, and a chaotically cheerful closing routine making inventive use of office furniture.

Directors Dave St-Pierre and Jeannot Painchaud have worked hard to make Cirkopolis a cut above your average ‘cirque nouveau’ offering – and choreographer St-Pierre’s hand is definitely visible. His beguiling, dance-rich movement framework threads the acts together and bolsters the group performances. And his sense of humour (this after all is the man who sent screaming, fighting, naked dancers out to invade the Sadler’s Wells audience in 2011) infuses the whole show.