TORUK The First Flight | Perth Arena | Until 3 December | ★ ★ ★
Cirque Du Soleil’s TORUK is a massive theatrical experience. The stage area takes up the entire vast expanse of the floor of the Perth Arena. The space which would normally be the best seats in the house at a rock concert is all performance space.
The show features massive video projections that changes the landscape of the space from forest to water and fire. The performance begins with a narrator standing high on a mountain, that grows before us, inviting us into the world created in James Cameron’s film Avatar.
Set a thousand years before the sci-fi film, this is the world of the Na’vi – the giant blue people who inhabit the world. We enter their world visiting a village as people run, jump, tumble and flip across the performance space. There are people everywhere, but clever lighting guides the audience’s attention to key points.
We follow the quest of a couple of friends, who need to redeem themselves in the eyes of their tribesman. They head off to visit the different tribes on their moon home, capturing a talisman from each.
Sensational lighting and staging continually transforms the space, and the costuming and makeup is faultless, successfully creating an alien world for us to visit.
Often Cirque du Soleil shows feel like a series of acts loosely linked by a narrative. Here the storytelling is central, and the sensational acts of back-flips, somersaults, and other circus feats are just part of the tale.
Three quarters of the way through the show, I was just bored. While it looks amazing, the expected wonder of Cirque Du Soleil is gets lost among the storytelling.
Graeme Watson
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