Confetti, inflatables and clowns at the Royal Concert Hall? Slava's Snow Show must be in town...
‘Finding joy and emotions in the simple, the absurd and the unexpected’ – as an utterly giddy audience, ranging from eight to eighty, are bombarded by giant multi-coloured balloons and ice-white confetti rapidly cannoned out by a wind machine during the show’s multi-sensory finale, it’s difficult to question the words of originator Slava Polunin.
32 years after its inception and thousands of performances, which have seen it dazzle everywhere from Beijing to Bogota, later, the touring troupe of clowns arrived back in Nottingham after a thirteen-year absence with Slava’s son, Vanya now leading proceedings.
As the seven-strong collective swoop, glide, creep, shuffle and saunter on stage flourishing a variety of props from brooms to balloons and that omnipresent confetti – attentions are held throughout.
Oscillating from tender moments as the clown's make-up exaggerates their melancholic reactions to perceived slights or loneliness, to slapstick mimicking and parroting of movements and actions, the mood rises and dips cleverly throughout.
At one point, a giant cotton spider web envelopes the audience and is passed over heads like a tifo at a football match, but nothing can prepare you for the grand finale
Coupled with a soundtrack which features everything from the evocative (Vangelis’ Chariots of Fire – who wouldn’t want to see Slava’s clowns jogging alongside Nigel Havers on a Norfolk beach?) and jaunty samba rhythms (Jorge Ben Jor’s Mas, Que Nada!) to the atmospheric (Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 14) and dramatic (O Fortuna from Carmina Burana), it’s beautifully orchestrated throughout.
Anyone sitting in the stalls who thought they were in for a quiet night were gravely mistaken too, as the second half began with the troupe clambering over heads through the audience, while others are lifted on to the stage and one game participant flips between being chased and being the chaser across the stage.
At one point, a giant cotton spider web envelopes the audience and is passed over heads like a tifo at a football match, but nothing can prepare you for the grand finale as we are blasted by ticker tape confetti and ginormous inflatable spheres which are giddily punched around the auditorium.
In a world where too much is often said by too many, an hour and a half of relying on some of the other senses proves just the ticket.
Slava's Snow Show was at Royal Concert Hall between Wednesday 29 October – Sunday 2 November
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