Review: Cirque Du Soleil Varekai

Last night Tom and I got the amazing opportunity to head to the Nottingham Motorpoint Arena to see the latest Cirque Du Soleil show that is touring the country, Varekai. I am a huge lover of going to see shows, be it a musical, concert or theatre production, but I have never seen anything like the Cirque Du Soleil! Tom is very much the same as me in this aspect so I was unsure as to how we would react towards the show so today I’m going to share our thoughts on the production! Unfortunately, I only have a couple of pictures as there was no flash photography allowed and every photo I took was a bit too dark from where we were sat! I was also enjoying myself too much to even contemplate taking pictures at the crucial moments! That just means you have to go and witness it for yourselves!

On our arrival at the arena we found our seats and were incredibly pleased with the view we had. We had a good central view of the stage and we were both gobsmacked by the huge amounts of scenery and props that covered a good proportion of the stage and even extended right up to the ceiling. The excitement of how these would play a part in the show just heightened our anticipation for the show to start. In the build up to the start of the show, two performers came out into the crowd that were seated on the floor. Little did we know, but they would keep reappearing throughout the show and regularly provided a bit of slapstick humour that, normally I don’t find funny, but these two were hilarious! Pulling people out of the audience to take part in their antics and just generally larking around, they really got the crowd in the mood! The tickets said the show started at 8pm and bang on the dot, the show began! 

At the stroke of 8, performers dressed in all sorts of incredible costumes began to fill the stage and it was already apparent that the show was going to be a good one. The timing of the performers to the music and sounds was second to none and the actual moves themselves left my brain feeling a bit boggled! It’s incredible how the human body can move in such incredible ways and really left my feeble flexibility feeling a bit inadequate! As I had never been before, I expected it to be like a theatre production, with an underlying story and narrative throughout, which it isn’t at all. This left me feeling a little confused for the first fifteen minutes as there is so many amazing things going on on the stage that I wasn’t sure what I was meant to be looking at first. This is a one of a kind style of show so anything I had previously seen was incomparable and therefore I needed to start watching it with a clean slate in mind!

Once I had put my preconceptions behind me, I really got into the spirit of the show and found that I was mesmerised. Amazing aerial acrobatics, incredible gymnasts and fantastic  costumes filled the next half an hour until suddenly it was time for a break. Tom actually turned to me and said he couldn’t believe how quickly the time had gone by. That’s definitely a sure sign that he was enjoying himself! In the break I had a little google to see what the show was about as I hadn’t looked before hand as I didn’t want to spoil the surprise. Looking back, I wish I had done before as those initial 15 minutes would have been much more easily understood! The story behind Varekai follows the greek mythology regarding Icarus, who flew too close to the sun and thus melted his wings and fell to his death in the sea. However, in Varekai, rather than falling into the sea and perishing, he falls and lands on an island where he is found by these magical creatures and the remainders of his wings are stolen. 

I would say that the plot is definitely underlying and not something that needs to be consistently followed. The incredible scenes on the stage will soon have you forgetting everything and gaping in awe. Without spoiling the ending, we both found that the finale was simply spectacular and had me sat with my mouth open and just staring at the stage in complete amazement. Tom started laughing at one point as some of the stunts were so daring I was actually gasping and flinching in my seat as they happened! They say seeing is believing and had I not been there I definitely wouldn’t have believed that some of those acts were possible!

I was quite worried that this wouldn’t really be Tom’s thing as he can be quite particular, however he said at the end that he thoroughly enjoyed it. I think this would make a perfect date night for any couple as it really is something incredibly different and you get sucked into the atmosphere without even trying! The fantastic skills of the performers and the comedic elements from two of the cast are bound to entertain even the most stubborn of people and certainly provided both of us with an incredible experience we won’t be forgetting in a hurry!

Varekai is on at the Motorpoint Arena until Sunday and they do have some tickets left! I’ll leave a link here in case you want to go on and book yourself a fantastic evening! Don’t worry if you don’t live in Nottingham, Varekai is touring the globe and a full list of locations can be found here. Tom and I would like to thank LD Communications and the Cirque Du Soleil cast for providing us with the tickets and such a fantastic opportunity. We had an absolute ball!

Much Love

xoxo