Anna Hyams

Scuttling into the Utilita Arena in Birmingham, we arrive into a deep softly illuminated world of chirping crickets and the trills of minibeasts, and take our seats facing… the giant egg. The circus has finally come back to town, in the form of Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Ovo’.

Before the show starts I got the lowdown on some of the incredible things that have to go on behind the scenes to make it work. The mammoth effort involved in the costume department cannot go un-written – their touring vehicles house six washing machines and three dryers, to cope with the sixty loads of washing that were required for tonight’s performances, and they have an entire in-house tailoring team on hand for quick fixes as well.

The cast and crew comprise of a whopping 100 people of 25 different nationalities, 52 artists, and 23 huge semi-trucks to cart everything around in. The stage is fantastic, and the herculean effort it must take to organise and do this type of show is absolutely phenomenal.

The show opens with our host/ringmaster the Scarab Beetle ‘Master Flipo’, dressed in a very comic book Joker-esque ensemble, and his friend The Ladybird witnessing the arrival of ‘The Foreigner’ (who I can’t help but see more as a Covid-19 spike protein than a bluebottle fly – but that’s the trauma speaking) who is carrying a giant egg on his back. Immediately all of the characters are endearing and interesting, but the star is definitely Coccinella (Ladybird) – portrayed by the wonderful Neiva Nascimento. Clad in a cute latex outfit she totters around the stage chirruping and making complete sense, with almost no actual dialogue at all. In fact that is the part I find most charming about all of this, we get a complete theatrical story conveyed almost exclusively visually. It’s powerful stuff.

The skit where the insects steal the egg and The Foreigner sadly calls out “Ovoooo” are very funny, but when the Red Ants take to the stage on the vertical parallel bars I am immediately overcome with wonder, exactly as I was, seeing circus skills for the first time as a child. Spinning and jumping between the poles, or sliding down them at death defying speeds and then freezing into impossible human-flag shapes is what circus is all about – the suspension of your innate belief in how gravity works.

Next up, the Gracious Dragonfly gives an absolutely beautiful hand-balancing performance atop a vibrant green spiral that is reminiscent of plant-stamens, or coiled corkscrew rushes on the surface of a lake. The clever costuming of iridescent wings spanning the length of the artist’s legs, allows for some stunning shapes as he deftly moves from one delicate position to another.

During stage setting and the continuing escapades of The Foreigner, Coccinelle, and Master Flipo – the back wall of the stage, covered in wall climbing rocks, is subtly used as an outlook for sly Spiders. The three of them take turns to scale and pose themselves as portraits across the background before The Black Spider takes to the stage for an aerial hoop performance, one of the most breathtaking parts of the show.

The sleek red and black suit, coupled with the stark ghostly face-paint of The Black Spider invites you to view him as something otherworldly, and he certainly lives up to the idea as he soars across the smoke-covered stage on his hoop-web. Unbelievable feats of strength and flexibility are bolstered by his powerfully emotive dance elements, all undeniably spider-like in feeling.

The high-flying Beetles navigating the three Korean-frame stations set high in the rafters, bring the first half of the show to an end with a sizzle. There’s nothing like looking around a crowd while aerial performers are on, and seeing every mouth agape, young and old alike. The frames are stacked with muscular Beetles banging chalk between their hands, before swinging the lithe flying Beetles through the air to one another. The tricks are incredible, tucks and spins – even one that flew a complete circle around the centre post, look inches away from death, but this is a party of replete professionals and the set is perfect. Touching down onto the trampoline net to finish, they garner the biggest cheer of the night so far.

After the Intermission, we see White Spider drop down to centre stage to show us some of her stunning contortion techniques, bending gracefully into inconceivable positions. The Red and Black spiders join her for some partner balancing, and then she takes to a very unique piece of equipment which allows her to spin and contort whilst balanced on… well… her mouth. There is a small part of me that was initially revulsed, but I think that’s because I know the damage I would inflict upon myself were I ever to drunkenly try this. The sheer strength of mouth and neck muscles it must require is frankly mindblowing.

Following this, we are treated to another classic circus skill – Firefly, with his diablo. Now, I expect that most of you reading this, and the majority of the people in the audience, have probably had a go with a diablo once in your life. Maybe at a kids party, a summer event, or a school fair. So you know how bloody hard work it is to even keep one of those things balanced never mind actually spinning. Firefly wowed us with one, then two, then three, then four diablos bouncing off the same string. While he turned. While he shot them up in between the lighting rigs high above the stage. I think he may have been a lot of people’s unexpected favourite of the night, and that diablo sales on Amazon probably rose immediately following the show.

As in a proper circus environment, a little audience participation to fill a gap can be fun, and the two people brought on stage to play unwitting romantic interests for The Foreigner and Coccinelle, were very good sports about it. However, what came next was a true highlight of the night – a crackle textured bug, attached via her hair to a ceiling rope and pulled skyward like a marionette. This whole scene was gorgeous, from the music and the lighting, to her elegant and nimble body positions as she swept and spun across the stage.

The final big act of the night was down to the bright green Crickets, displaying wall-climbing and trampoline skills across the backdrop of the stage. Two giant concealed trampolines provided the power for the artists to run up the wall and land on top, before pelting themselves back down for tucks and tricks, even jumping over one another in a waterfall presentation, but also taking the time to perform and show their cheeky side (literally, they shook their bums at the audience at one point). The air-track between the two trampolines also provided a runway of layouts, twists and double back tucks that came in waves towards the audience, a plethora of skills shown in quick succession.

Sadly the time is over far too soon, but a happy ending with The Foreigner winning the hand of the Ladybird (and kissing quite a lot) and the return of his ‘Ovo’, to the stunning vocals of Bossa N’Ovo – The Cockroach. As she sang, the cast emerged to rapturous applause and made their farewells after an incredible night. As the stage darkened one last time, Ladybird is left alone to witness, the cracking of the Ovo…

Ending on a comedic cliffhanger really seals the tone of this brilliant show. It was funny and beautiful in equal measure, turning adults into awe-struck children seems to be the modus operandi of Cirque, and we loved every second of it.