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No business like snow business
Slava’s Snowshow
Birmingham Hippodrome
*** MENTION the word clowns these days and
you are likely to think more about politicians than those of the red
nose kind. But these are not just your everyday run off the
mill clowns . . . they are Russian, Tony award-nominated performers.
These are the kind of clowns who blend together more traditional circus
skills with mime, lighting and spectacular theatre effects to create an
atmosphere of amusement and wonder. Slava Polunin, a Russian performer, created the
event 20 years ago and while he is now heading into his retirement years
he is still part of the cast. However as this is a heavily costumed work
it’s likely that he could be replaced and the production would run
successfully for many years to come without his presence. The show is more about a theatrical experience
than red noses, paper If anything it’s more like a sequence of living
cartoons and it’s easy to imagine the whole thing as some sort of
animation at some point. It’s for that fact the show is easily
translatable, with no dialogue just physical gestures and music, and
that fact has enabled it to be staged all over the world. Set against a series of electronic and operatic
soundtracks Slava's Snowshow builds from some simple stage gestures from
the performers into literally an assault on the senses both physically
and emotionally. If anything the clowning around divides the
audience into those that are and those that are not amused by their
antics. There were some who seemed to be hysterically laughing at one
point whilst others sat in silence. When the big effects do happen though it’s hard
to not join in, or even duck, when the whole theatre is blown over with
ticker tape snow, or not to have to compete in the crazy mass volley
ball game with dozens of giant 15 foot balls. Slava snow is especially appealing to children of
all ages as just the sheer chaos of the event is a memorable experience
for them. One down side was for those that sat in the
circle as the effects are concentrated on the stalls but when a couple
of the huge balls made it up there were cheers and screams of delight. It’s a bit of stretch to call this a Snow
show as it’s only in the last ten minutes that the wintery theme turns
up. What it is though is a colourful, non-verbal experience that will
amuse you and have you out of or under your chair at some point. It is
well executed and a lot of fun. To 16-11-14 Jeff Grant
13-11-14
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filled buckets and slap stick. There’s a little bit of that but not
enough that you will need your waterproofs.