Vision of a clown

By GRAHAM REID

Few who went to Cirque du Soleil's Alegria show will forget the snow sequence when the audience was captivated by a blizzard blast of "snow" rushing over its head.

It was just one of many spectacular sequences in that part-circus, part-musical, but the main man behind it, the Russian clown Slava Polunin, has developed his own independent, award-winning theatrical piece entitled Slava's Snowshow which comes to Auckland at the end of the month.

More than simply a visual treat of snowflake wonderland, the performance involves many elements from the clown and mime traditions, plus an ambitious vision of highly visual theatre.

Founder of his own company and the Theatre of the Art of Modern Clowning, Slava believes he was marked out at birth by God to follow the path of being a mime and reconnecting with the lost traditions.

Britain's Express when reviewing the Snowshow noted, however, that while Slava works in the traditional garb of the clown and makes the invisible visible in the manner of the best mimes, his work also possesses the darkness of Samuel Beckett which makes for a show of tension as much as belly laughs.

The London Evening Standard spoke of the stage setting as surreal in the manner of Salvador Dali and a booming finale which made the best use of Carmina Burana since the Old Spice advert.

A brief preview tape of the production confirms the scale, humour, grandeur and audience participation of Slava's Snowshow. Huge inflated balls bounce across the stage and the heads of the audience, "snowflakes" are everywhere, the mime is full of pathos and humour, and the audience alternately engrossed by the quietude or rollicking with laughter at the broad humour.

Slava and Slava's Snowshow have scooped numerous awards from Barcelona, Glasgow and London (best entertainment, Olivier Award '98) to Moscow and St Petersburg. The family show is as traditional as commedia dell'arte but as modern as a cinema blockbuster - and it's coming to town soon. Not to be missed if the romance of the circus, nuances of Marcel Marceau or the broad brush entertainment of Cirque du Soleil meant anything to you.

* Slava's Snowshow, the Civic, Tuesday July 30 to Sunday August 11.