Theatre Review | La Ronde

La Ronde       

Conceived and Directed by Scott Maidment

Choreography by Melanie Hawkins

Photo Credit Jacinta Oaten                      

The Grand Electric

Reviewed by Ron Lee, CSP

In this age of desensitisation due to TikTok, Artificial Intelligence and other media, it’s still possible to be astounded and amazed, knowing that what you’re seeing is real and is happening right in front of you.

Enter La Ronde, which is billed as “A Lavish Cocktail of Circus, Cabaret & Comedy”. A troupe of seven outstandingly skilled circus and cabaret performers have been brought to The Grand Electric to entertain Sydney audiences in the round.

Zoë Marshall’s hair hanging routine has her hair bun hooked up and she’s raised high above the circular stage where her contortions and acrobatics evoke gasps from the audience. Her greater than 180 degree splits make Jean-Claude Van Damme seem stiff, and I have never seen anyone spin faster. Not sure how she can walk straight afterwards.

Danik Abishev is an “aggressive hand balancer” whose gravity-defying performances blend strength, movement, and theatricality. He’s from a line of Russian circus performers, and began training at age four. The fire ladder is eye-catching.

In her first visit to Australia, Diana Bondarenko from Germany, is an aerialist who “can’t perform with out rigging”. She spins, hangs and contorts on the Pyramid Trapeze, which I hadn’t seen before.

Sam Goodburn from the U.K. is a nerdy-looking street performer in black-framed glasses and a beige pom pom beanie. His favoured props are a unicycle and many, many, many biscuits. He’s the ultimate audience participation comedy performer, and one spectator is invited to help him to put on a suit while he’s riding the unicycle. The pants part is a challenge.

Sergiy Mishchurenko from the Ukraine performs the Aerial Pole on which he appears to be flying. The strength and balance that he needs too make it look so effortless is truly impressive. He’s also an amazing break dancer who demonstrates his hip hop skills; he makes Raygun look like - Raygun.

The only Australian performer in the show is Adam Malone. How does he spin hula hoops while his body is balanced on one hand? He executes his Washington Trapeze act wearing very high heels. Before becoming a performer, Malone was a makeup artist and it shows.

Geniris from the Dominican Republic is a singer who possesses a haunting, ethereal voice. Performing one song with her hair up, she looks like Shirley Bassey and is a perfect complement to the circus-based acts.

If you’d like to revisit a time when you experienced child-like fascination at the circus, take yourself to The Grand Electric to see La Ronde. It will be exactly the same - apart from all of the bare bottoms.