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.