Slava’s Snowshow

Published Tuesday 10 October 2006 at 18:15 by Duska Radosavljevic

Following 16 successful years on the road, Slava Polunin’s Snowshow is quite simply a phenomenon that must not be missed. Hard on the heels of its Braodway run, this legendary creation is back in the UK once again, delivering pure joy to entire families.

Led by Polunin in a yellow baby suit, his ensemble of mosquito-like creatures in oversized shoes embarks on a mission to tickle and tease the enraptured audience, covering it in cobwebs, spraying it with water and sprinkling it with white and silver confetti, all to a response of delighted shrieks. Meanwhile a collage of windswept dreams, absurd visions and disturbed nocturnal fantasies unfolds like an extended visual poem against a set covered in giant duvets and bubbles of different sizes. Those who might want to look hard will find references to mythology and folklore, the universe and the human condition, swinging within seconds between the sublime and the ridiculous.

There may be a touch more glitz than soul in the current version but the show’s focus is always on the outside. Using their own unique brand of magic, Polunin’s clowns derive and control the audience response in a way that would turn most of the entertainment industry green with envy. Gradually, they open a secret valve and you can almost touch the tension in the auditorium accompanying the second half which, in a series of solo pieces, suggests loneliness as one of its themes. Eventually, bonded as one big family, the audience jumps to their feet to join in an extended giant ballgame finale, while Slava and his clowns sit back marvelling at the result and a Russian song reminds us that ‘it’s wonderful’.