Really, they should drop a plate deliberately, just to prove they’re not stuck on. After all, is it really possible to keep eight plates spinning atop four poles in each hand while turning a somersault? The massed plate-spinning girls of the Chinese State Circus would have us believe so.
And while I can’t be the only one who came away with doubts about those plates, there are plenty of other see ‘em but barely believe ‘em moments in this large cast production that would be impossible to fake.
Definitely in the ‘don’t try this in the garden centre’ department is a juggler who hurls an enormous ceramic garden pot a good 30 feet into the air before catching it on his back.
Also amazing are the troupe of diabolists who throw their double-sided tops to similar heights and manage to skip on their ropes or turn several somersaults before catching them effortlessly.
The one disappointment is provided by the programme, which (in the tradition of gloriously over-illustrated circus posters) promises several acts that fail to appear on stage, namely swinging poles, aerial silks and motorcycles in a globe. A pity, as such acts would have provided a good contrast to the predominantly floor-based routines.
There is, however, nothing disappointing about the level of skills displayed by the performers who do appear, whether they be superbly poised and controlled contortionists, a hat-juggling human pyramid or the globe-walking acrobats behind the masks and skins of a lively lion dance.
Production information can change over the run of the show.
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