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LA CLIQUE

★★★★

Christmas in Leicester Square

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LA CLIQUE at Christmas in Leicester Square

★★★★

“the perfect Christmas treat”

It was twenty years ago today (well, give or take a couple of months) that David Bates unveiled his alternative cabaret show at the Edinburgh Festival. Although it has grown in stature and reputation over the years it has retained its intimacy and subversive exclusivity – as though it is still a naughty secret for those that are fortunate enough to witness it. Wandering into the Spiegeltent in Leicester Square is like straying into one’s own alternative wonderland – albeit sharing it with a thousand other awe-struck spectators. “La Clique” has attracted many imitators, but Bates’ ability to lure the cream of the cabaret and circus scene into his extended and eccentric family puts the show into a genre of its own; mixing irreverence, sexiness and mayhem with jaw-dropping virtuosity and derring-do.

For the opening night of its twentieth anniversary, there is expectation. A birthday cake came out and the audience were invited to sing ‘Happy Birthday’, but otherwise it is business as usual. In fact, in some ways the show feels slightly more restrained than its previous seasons. Its censorship rating has definitely slipped down the scale – you’d be blushing less if accompanied by your maiden aunt – and the variety seems to be getting a bit slimmer. It is more circus than cabaret now. But no matter. It still thrills and inspires awe, and the performers flirtatiousness demolishes any boundary between the acts and the audience. On that note, if you manage to grab a front row seat you could well find yourself on the stage at some point (take that as a warning or an incitement depending on your preferences).

The drama still weaves through the evening. There is no storyline as such, but there is a natural cohesion between the acts as though an invisible thread links them together. It is the camaraderie we are feeling, and we want to be part of the party. There are a few newcomers to the troupe, including the ‘dysfunctional duo’ (their words – not mine) Isis Clegg-Vinell and Nathan Price. What they do on roller skates is almost beyond words. The advice to remain seated during their act probably sums it up best. They later team up with aerialist Cornelius Atkinson. Solo, Atkinson has already stunned us with his routine, but the three of them together (under the banner of ‘Trio Vertex’) defy the laws of physics, logic, gravity and most certainly good old common sense. The beauty and the danger, coupled with the eroticism and the precision, is what defines the essence of “La Clique”.

Humour runs deep too. Florian Brooks has an elegance and a nonchalance that belies the inventiveness and imagination of a stunning juggling act. Complemented by his reluctant assistant, Bubbles the goldfish (go see for yourself if you think I’m talking gibberish now) we laugh and we gape in equal measure. Asher Treleaven, when not astounding us with his Diablo skills, ups the bawdy humour stakes. As much a comic genius as a circus wizard, his hilarious repartee alone earns the show’s 16+ age guidance. Just when our muscles are being stretched through laughter, our necks take the brunt now as we strain to gaze to the heavens to witness aerialist Miranda Menzies, whose glossy knot of dark hair seems to be the only part of her that prevents her plummeting thirty feet to the ground.

Danik Abishev also balances the risqué with the risky. And with ladders. Oh, and with fire. Even, at one point, using a member of the audience as a prop. As we watch his balancing feats, we are also wondering – and not for the first or last time during the evening – ‘how does he do it?’. Bayley Graham zips through his tap dance routine like a machine gun on speed, leaving us breathless while he still manages to flirt and sip prosecco with the staccato clicks of his heel ricocheting around the tent at an alarming tempo. Stalwart and veteran of “La Clique”, Katharine Arnold, wows, as always, with her sultry sexy choreography that ignores all dimensions of space as she shimmers up and down her silks (no – that’s not a euphemism; it’s a perfectly legitimate circus phrase).

In the past, there has perhaps been more of a sense of real danger. We are left with a tiny nagging feeling that not all the stops have been pulled out for their twentieth birthday. But that is no reason at all not to attend the party. It’s also the fifth year running that the show has made its home in Leicester Square for the festive season. “La Clique” is the perfect Christmas treat. If you’ve never seen it – see it. If you have seen it – see it again. It makes life beautiful for a couple of hours. And don’t forget to pick your jaw up off the floor on the way out.


LA CLIQUE at Christmas in Leicester Square

Reviewed on 12th November 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Craig Sugden

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Previous La Clique reviews:

LA CLIQUE | ★★★★★ | November 2021
LA CLIQUE | ★★★★★ | November 2022

LA CLIQUE

LA CLIQUE

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page

 

UNTIL SHE SLEEPS

★★★

White Bear Theatre

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UNTIL SHE SLEEPS at the White Bear Theatre

★★★

“There are many complicated strands to the play – probably too many – which dampens the suspense.”

Edward and Henrietta Dunbar are all surface. In public – especially down at the golf club – their silky, satin finish hides a variety of cracks like the finest emulsion. But behind the smooth talk and polished speech, and behind closed doors, we see a very different story. Brad Sutherland’s new play, “Until She Sleeps”, centres on this oddly caustic couple as they navigate the minefield of mistrust and cruelty. The misgivings extend out into the audience; we are never sure whether they are playing a cruel game for others’ benefit or for their own perverse amusement. They are bound to attract comparisons to Edward Albee’s Martha and George, particularly when the less colourful pair – Peter and Nicola – are reluctantly sucked into their orbit.

Henrietta, it turns out, is battling motor neurone disease. At first, she is in the early stages and Edward has his suspicions that she might be faking it. We never really get to grips with his qualms which are swiftly brushed aside and subsequently ignored. Similarly, the subtext of euthanasia is explored briefly, touching on the legal and moral complexities, but not followed through until a passing mention later on. Blackmail and fidelity are subjects more successfully handled, which are expressed through Sutherland’s often sharp dialogue rather than exposition, yet just as we are enjoying the more emotive moments, we are led back into pragmatic issues such as tax evasion and probate.

At its heart, though, is paranoia. A sickness more destructive and toxic to the marriage than Henrietta’s progressing disability. Jonathan Hansler manifests the frustrations with an incisive portrayal of a husband who never knows if he is the culprit or the victim. It is a strong performance, levitated with shades of John Cleese on a bad day. Tonya Cornelisse, as Henrietta, vacillates between a provocative closed coolness, and her exposed anger. Her rich, sultry voice dominates the stage, making it all the more tragic when her illness robs her of the power of speech.

Rowland D. Hill and Robin Miller, as Peter and Nicola respectively, are simultaneously the foils and conscience. Less complex, their characters are more weakly written. Miller struggles sometimes with the character of a woman denied the pleasures of an affair, while her lines veer towards simplicity rather than the complexity they require. Hill has more success as he rebuffs Edward’s attempts to lure Peter into his web of subterfuge. These scenes, away from the probing ears of Henrietta (or so we think), enhance the smokescreen effect of deceit and secrecy.

Despite the odd instance of clumsy blocking, David Furlong’s direction keeps the narrative fast paced and succinct (every now and then we fast forward a year or so) yet manages to take a breath for the humour to relieve the darkness. The isolation often found in a relationship is occasionally played for laughs before being plunged back into pathos. There are many complicated strands to the play – probably too many – which dampens the suspense. And sometimes the actors appear to be struggling to keep up. Yet despite the complexities we eventually find ourselves on the straight and narrow. The brief appearance of Nurse Millie (Orsolya Nagy) is an odd and superfluous decision. The intention is maybe that she steers us towards the play’s conclusion, but it is only when Edmund and Henrietta are left alone again that we can actually reach it. Saying very little, Hansler powerfully turns his character around with a quiet, emotionally charged performance that answers more of our questions than the rest of the evening managed to.


UNTIL SHE SLEEPS at the White Bear Theatre

Reviewed on 7th November 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Paddy Gormley

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

SEVEN DAYS IN THE LIFE OF SIMON LABROSSE | ★★★½ | October 2024
THE BOX | ★★★ | July 2024
JUST STOP EXTINCTION REBELLION | ★★★ | February 2024
I FOUND MY HORN | ★★★★ | February 2023
THE MIDNIGHT SNACK | ★★★ | December 2022
THE SILENT WOMAN | ★★★★ | April 2022
US | ★★★★ | February 2022
MARLOWE’S FATE | ★★★ | November 2021

Until She Sleeps

Until She Sleeps

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page