Empress Place
PT Barnum’s shadow looms large over the circus scene, possibly due to the top hat. Supersizing the genre to the “Greatest Show on Earth” his legacy has spawned a 2017 film grossing $459 million worldwide, multiple stage productions and now a “spectacular” in a redeveloped strip under the Mayor’s new Counter Terrorism Operations Centre.
Like many musical theatre fanatics, I threw myself into Barnum fever when the film came out. But gnawing doubt told me that the bright fantasy of marginalised folk united by one scheming but ultimately loving patriarchal figure didn’t land. Not with the reality of human zoos, freak shows and cruelty of the turn of the 20th century. Right enough, Barnum routinely sent henchmen to kidnap Aborigines and First Nations people for his “human oddities” show and bought slaves – not quite the beaming Hugh Jackman we were led to believe.
Thankfully the recent extravaganza is based very loosely on the film which itself is based very loosely on reality, and isn’t that appropriate for the smoke and mirrors world of circus? On a strip of land formerly the Underbelly’s West London fairground and theatre space we now have Empress Place. A building that looks more like a fancy car dealership than a circus stage. Inside, however, a pleasing preset welcomes us. Not a penny has been spared on details, from the film’s spinning silhouette candle – massive and casting shifting patterns, to wooden caravans, giant smiling moons and even a trampoline-based performance beside the main stage. Think ABBA Voyage meets Zippos Circus. The crowds bristle turning into the area, again more like a large circular theatre than a big top, but a couple of draped red curtains in the ceiling attempt to do the job.
Simon Hammerstein‘s concept and direction, however, is simply a selection of impressive circus acts with live singing and a nod to the film’s plot. When I say nod, I mean blink. We have Aaliya Mai as Max, a lost Londoner who, while browsing the Barnum Museum, is pulled into a magic/dream world of circus fun. There she meets Simon Bailey playing the current Greatest Showman, a ghostly title handed down for some unnamed reason. While navigating completely unrelated performances Mai has love trouble with a gymnast and is forced to choose between him and her new career, even though both are in her mind. Taken as a dream sequence it almost makes sense, but viewed as a psychotic break it all takes on a darker turn.
But when did circus ever need to make sense? Within the mesh of plot holes and disappointing acting, we have spots of glinting sequins. Our live chorus of Jaz Ellington, Charlotte-Hannah Jones, Whitney Martins, and Fallon Mondlane bring star quality. Wandering around the preset as Mystic Meg and cowgirls they do complete justice to some of the bangers from the film, especially the rousing ‘This is Me’. Furthermore, visually throughout we are very much immersed. Susan Kulkarni and Martina Trottmann’s costumes are faultless, Jerry Reeve and Lukas McFarlane‘s choreography of the chorus clown breaks up the solo and duet nature of the acts. Matthew Brind’s musical eye gives us the refreshing experience of acrobatics to live singing, intensifying an already crackling atmosphere.
Given my editor’s strict word count I cannot mention and congratulate every single circus performer but of the ten or so not a plimsolled foot is put out of place. High quality and eye-popping, we have tightrope walkers, fire spinners, strong men and thankfully no animal acts. Go for the razzmatazz of the circus, do not go for a cohesive plot or discussion (or even acknowledgement) of the problems of colonialist theatrical forms.
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