Kooza: Cirque du Soleil – Alexandra Park February 15, 2019 (Theatre Review)

Cirque du Soleil’s reputation precedes its performance – and one enters the Big-Top with bated breath, expecting to be dazzled, charmed and enthralled by an endless stream of death defying performances. Last night’s opening show of KOOZA took us to giddy heights – the word ‘performance’ really doesn’t capture the Cirque Experience.  

Cirque is simply ‘transcendental.’ You are picked up and transported from one breath-taking feat to the next, so immersed that we often forgot we were inside a tent, lost in the Cirque world for over two hours by the athleticism, elegant setting, colourful costumes, live pulsating music, powerful singers and fast-moving set changes.

The word “KOOZA ” is inspired by the Sanskrit word Koza which means ‘box’ or ‘treasure.’ We discover this in the opening scene where The Trickster bursts out of a jack in a box – an ode to the origins of circus performance. Throughout, we are taken back to those origins with a joyous undertone of playfulness. There’s also a nostalgic element to the choice of some tricks – think teeter boards and flips – which counter-balance the sophistication and complexity of many of the other moves of this talented and highly-trained troupe.

In the third act, the woman spinning on long straps hanging down from the high tent rooftop, spins into the crowd and seemingly gives the man in the first row a cheeky wink. This darting in and out of the set created an emotional pull for the audience into the centre stage, and a delightful breakdown of the usual gap between performers and crowd.

The set itself was also in a constant unfolding and opening, and by the time the performers started running and calling through the aisles, there was a sense of union of those on stage with the cheering, enraptured crowd.

Perhaps that word ‘unfolding’ best applies to the two Mongolian contortionists who took to the stage to bend and balance in golden costumes that glistened under the stage lights. The audience’s loud oohs and aahs over their seemingly impossible positions, executed with such power and grace and apparent ease, give some idea of the complexity of their moves. There were moments when we forget where one body ended and another began. The costumes added to the sense of the contortionists  being able to weave together the elements of performance and story and set. Again and again we saw this transformative quality in KOOZA .

In today’s fast-paced, online-driven world, we are often guilty of indulging in short snippets of experience, limited to a few media minutes or less, before we rush on to taste the next story. Perhaps this is where the real beauty and distinction of Cirque Du Soleil lies. It takes you on a true journey, one where you totally lose any sense of time and space and surrender to being present – and to being in awe.

David Shiner, the show’s writer and director said “KOOZA is about human connection, and the world of duality, good and bad” and this was evident in every breathtaking section of the performance.

Halfway through, after so many wondrous performances, I wondered what they could do next to maintain the element of surprise. And that was when they showed us they could reinvent the wheel – quite literally.

The audience held its collective breath as two Colombian men took on the spinning Wheel of Death five stories high. The performers’ astonishing physicality and threatening, muscular stance the perfect foil for the diabolical spinning metal structure which itself was a true feat of human engineering skill. No need for animals in a circus when this level of creativity, daring and training is all that a truly Great Circus needs.

The costumes were designed to inspire and delight, reflecting the more than 300 people working full-time, year round, to deliver such a visual sartorial feast. However, a definite highlight was returning from intermission to what can only be described as a Cinqo De Mayo act, complete with a sequin suit and skeleton-clad Army of the Dead.

Is it cliché to say there was something for everyone? The unison of gasps and wild eruptions of laughter and cheers from the crowd say otherwise. In KOOZA , Cirque Du Soleil offers a very unique version of what it means to think outside the box. It’s memorable and it’s magical. Make sure you see its Auckland season. KOOZA plays until March 17

Nathan Frater & Lucy Mangin

Click any image to see a gallery of images from KOOZA .
Photos by Veronica McLaughlin Photography