★★★★

“It is a wonder, without a doubt, and delightfully potty”

Australian company Circa has intertwined the myths of Swan Lake and The Ugly Duckling to create a muscular and gasp-inducing circus ballet that is rich in both beauty and spectacle.

“D-u-c-k!” one is tempted to shout, seeing the toned performers flung perilously across the expansive stage of the Royal Festival Hall. This is where art, performance and extreme physicality come together to push back the boundaries of what’s possible in the bruising realm of acrobatic storytelling.

As the performers swing from billowing wraps, make towers that almost touch the lighting rigs, tumble from ridiculous heights, and twist bodies until surely they must break, there are sharp intakes of breath across the auditorium – along with sympathetic twinges in dozing deltoids. Meanwhile, somewhere in a corner of the Southbank Centre, a health and safety manager is having a quiet meltdown.

These are daffy ducks. They are dexterous ducks, dazzling ducks and, above all, daring ducks.

Here’s the story in outline, taking the ornithological inexactitude of the original and giving it a tweak and twist.

At a palace celebration for the Prince’s birthday, the revelry ends abruptly. The Prince meets the Ugly Duckling, and with Cupid’s intervention, they fall in love. However, their romance is overshadowed by societal barriers. Instead, the more suitable and wily Black Swan captivates the Prince’s heart.

But fortunes change when the Ugly Duckling discovers she is, in fact, a swan herself. And here comes the modern twist – it is the Black Swan and White Swan, two sapphic swans a-swooning, who fall in love, leaving the Prince in a flap.

It’s best to know the rudiments of the story going in. This wordless show is about the sheer artistry and physicality of the human form (those mince pies seeming twice as inhibiting now). But the whispers around the auditorium suggest the youngsters like to know roughly what’s going on and who’s who.

And then, after the climactic nuptials comes the coda, the extended – and probably unnecessary – third act. The swansong, if you will. Once the story is wrapped up, we’re given a meta-view of the performers, stripping off and breaking down the set. In Fame School bursts of exuberance, everyone has a last chance to do a party piece. It gets a little raunchy here, but tongue-in-cheek.

Director Yaron Lifschitz has it right when he calls this superior mix “something new – neither quite ballet nor circus… moving yet accessible”.

It is a wonder, without a doubt, and delightfully potty.

This Christmas, make a change and put duck on the menu.

DECK THE STALLS

Riverside Studios

★★★

“a joyful celebration that brings a smile to our faces”

In today’s Google-driven society there are numerous sites on the internet that advise us on the dos and don’ts of that infamous English institution: the office Christmas party. In the past we would just muddle through and deal with the hangover and yearly embarrassment in our own time, with heads bowed low by the water cooler. Lydia Kavanagh’s one act, one person play takes us straight into the heart of an end-of-year celebration, complete with Prosecco, vol-au-vents, cheesy music and all the mixed personality types who put their inhibitions through the shredder for a couple of hours. Even if you’ve never held an office job, Laura Rea’s naturalistic performance in “Deck the Stalls” allow us to relate to the many personalities she portrays.

Rea is Serena, a no-nonsense Geordie from the Byker district of Newcastle. An English Lit graduate who somehow ended up in Milton Keynes as an office worker. Trapped in life she is now cornered on all sides at the party before finding a narrow escape route to the toilet cubicles. There’s Middle Management Maddison who loves to delegate, HR Sandra who loves rules but has ‘gone rogue’ after one too many glasses of bubbly; single mum Chrissie from data analysis, and Dave – the ‘self-imposed’ DJ for the night (nobody asked him to spin the decks); Guardian-reading, ‘morally vegan’, lesbian Ellen. And finally, Steven, the fit dad who cycles to work, thoroughly married but carrying on with Serena in the broom cupboard at work.

It is an office that is built on formula and somewhat clichéd caricature, but Rea gives a freshness to each, deftly switching accents, mannerisms and facial expression. The comedy is all very predictable, and we are wondering where it is going but Rea has a way of engaging with the audience that keeps us waiting. For there is a bombshell – or rather more of a party popper. It isn’t going to bring the roof down, but it does give a twist that leads us out of the humdrum. There is also an undercurrent to the festivities that the writing uncovers. As we follow Serena into the ladies’ cubicle (it’s okay, we’re allowed to do that – it is the office party after all) we see another side to her. It is her first Christmas since her father passed away and for a few moments we glimpse the sense of grief that is buried beneath the armour-plated cynicism. For Serena, being alone is the best way to alleviate her sense of loneliness.

It is the contrast of the raucous humour and the quiet reflection that lend shade to the evening, except the highs and the lows are not sufficiently explored and we find ourselves on fairly level ground. We are unsure of how far Serena has sunk into her sadness or how much focus we should be putting onto it. Serena, too, is not the most sympathetic character so it is difficult to fully root for her. Nevertheless, Rea’s versatility creates a very watchable personality who, under Chloe Cattin’s taut direction, brings to life the chaos of office politics gone astray under the influence of alcohol. Some call this ‘Anti-Panto’. It acknowledges that regret and despair don’t take a holiday – even at Christmas. But “Deck the Stalls” still manages to be a joyful celebration that brings a smile to our faces.

DUCK POND

Royal Festival Hall

★★★★

“It is a wonder, without a doubt, and delightfully potty”

DUCK POND

Royal Festival Hall

Reviewed on 19th December 2024

by Giles Broadbent

Photography by Pia Johnson

Previously reviewed at Southbank venues:

DUCK POND

DUCK POND

DUCK POND

DECK THE STALLS

Riverside Studios

★★★

“a joyful celebration that brings a smile to our faces”

DECK THE STALLS

Riverside Studios

Reviewed on 18th December 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Jamie McNaught

Previously reviewed at this venue:

DECK THE STALLS

DECK THE STALLS

DECK THE STALLS