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16.01.2018
Cirque du Soleil Ovo review – all glory and no story
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Description
Royal Albert Hall, London
The global circus troupe’s insect-themed extravaganza is technically astonishing but fails to engage on a deeper level
Cirque du Soleil is an odd beast. At a time when circus is striving with every sinew to reinvent itself, and ensembles such as the NoFit Statecircus and Circumference are testing the conceptual boundaries, Soleil is resolutely moving in the opposite direction. Ovo, created in Montreal in 2009, is an arena spectacular that delivers huge set pieces with impressive precision, but little heart or soul. Skill levels are astounding, but the performers are so anonymised that it’s impossible to relate to them. This has always been Soleil’s way; the show’s the thing. But the result is oddly fractured.
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