Monday, December 19, 2016

'Cirque Adrenaline' at MBS - till 25 Dec 2016


In the past few years, we have had loads of action-packed acrobatic extravaganzas come to town. Cirque Elozie, the stylish Le Noir (which came twice), and the granddaddy of all circus shows Cirque du Soleil have graced Singapore with their awe-inspiring antics. Are we ever going to have enough of them?

The answer is no, for as a friend told me, such shows just never get old.

Thus, enter Cirque Adrenaline, one that promises more death-defying stunts, but ramped up a notch!

Now playing at the MasterCard theatres at Marina Bay Sands, which has become the go-to destination for such acts, the latest "cirque" in town promises “a whole new level” of thrills as it blends traditional and new acts for a “new genre” of circus performance.

It includes a Ukrainian couple suspended by ropes in mid-air, twirling around while hanging on top of each other. There is also an act where up to three motorcyclists manage to avoid crashing into each other and a stuntwoman while roaring around inside a structure called the Sphere Of Fear.

And feast your eyes on the star attraction: a spinning contraption called the Wheel of Death, fastened just in front of the front row of the Grand Theatre, where two men run, jump and even skip rope in mid-air with no safety harness or net. Seeing them occasionally lose their balances and land slightly askew just to grab on to a railing in time to avoid a fall made us aware of the thin line between life and certain disaster. The athleticism and sheer daring of the duo brought the house down many times.

However, I personally was most impressed with an underrated act where a game stuntman balances on a wobbly column of metal cylinders stacked on top of each other that gets higher and more unstable with each height increase. The performance is truly a breathtaking feat, and one wishes it had received more fanfare.

While the abovementioned daredevil acts always leave the audience wanting more, the tension is always unfortunately dissipated with more than one clownish sequences where hapless members of the audience are brought up on stage to take part in trivialities that belong in variety shows. One such act involving four audience members “acting” on a film set drags on for too long and tries the patience. We just want to get back to the professionals and the amazing stunts, please?

Perhaps we will never get tired of witnessing these stunts because they show us the triumph of the human spirit; that with practice, man can do extraordinary things.

Or perhaps we want to worship at the altar of these super humans, who can do what we mere mortals can't.

So if you're inclined, do mosey on down to the Marina Bay Sands for that little bit of inspiration after a day feeling like a mere mortal - or perhaps just a few hours of thrills and hopefully no spills.



Tickets for Cirque Adrenaline are available at SISTIC (http://www.sistic.com.sg/events/ad1216).

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