Theatre Review: La Clique

La Clique

Spiegelmaestro David Bates

Sydney Opera House Studio until November 17

Reviewed by Ron Lee, CSP, MAICD

On its twentieth anniversary, the fabulous, Olivier Award-winning La Clique has opened at the Sydney Opera House. 

It's a kooky, classy, sassy, risqué and delicious combination of burlesque, comedy, music, circus, cabaret and vaudeville. The circus routines are standard but they're performed in ways that you might not have seen. 

The show opens with a bathtub filled with water on the small circular stage in the middle of the room. Why are stage hands unrolling a sheet of plastic for people in the front row? We find out when Canada’s Tuedon Ariri emerges.

All of the performers possess many sublime circus skills and we only see a few of them, which is more than enough for one performance.

Berlin’s Mirko Köckenberger does a rolling balance board routine using champagne flutes, trays and a champagne bottle as the roller. He also performs with Cirque du Soleil.

Australian Tara Boom rubs butter over her naked body as she fires popcorn from the popper on her head and spins a multitude of hula hoops around her body. 

Mario, Queen of the Circus, looks like he wants to be Freddie Mercury but intentionally comes across more like Manuel from Fawlty Towers.

We’ve all seen sword swallowing haven’t we? Heather Holliday from the U.S.A. swallows five swords at the same time and then, even more impressively, a curved sword. If that’s not enough, her fire-eating bit climaxes with a massive vertical flame.

David Pereira contorts his fully naked, shaving cream-slathered body while he uses a razor to shave it off, including shaving cream that’s on and around the tackle. 

Ursula Martinez, 18 years after her memorable Montreal debut, has returned with her famous act in which she uses a basic, hidden magicians’ gimmick in the most creative way that I’ve seen. If you're curious, YouTube "Ursula Martinez Montreal" and then hit "Hanky Panky". 

The nude routines aren’t sexually explicit; they’re funny, entertaining, amazing acts in which the performer just happens to be naked, totally naked.

The eclectic backing music includes opera, sixties, classical and Queen, and at the end of the show we left the theatre bopping to an up-tempo version of Frankie Valli’s Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.

La Clique is the most fun that I've had at the theatre all year.