‘highly entertaining, deeply impressive’
Blizzard – which opened at the Queen Elizabeth Hall this week, might be described as ‘Cirque du Soleil’ on a budget, writes Katie Kelly.
The real spectacle here is the talent of the artists who make up Flip Fabrique. They juggle, they clown, they throw each other around with improbable strength and grace.
There is a breathtaking section where three of them bounce up and down between a trampoline and an extremely rickety-looking platform with an ease that makes it look like people can actually fly. For a few moments they were travelling through the air, with no crash mats in sight, within an inch of each other. I watched through my fingers, loving every second.
The blizzard theme is more of an atmosphere than a story, and it doesn’t really matter. It provided an excuse for dry ice and some larks as the acrobats dashed around the auditorium with a leaf blower, covering the audience in paper snow.
The lighting leaned heavily into shadow, which occasionally tipped from moody into simply hard to see. This provided a clever opportunity to disguise the assembly and disassembly of props, but on occasion it was frustrating. The darkness combined with music that, for the first fifteen minutes felt slightly oppressive, and led to a vibe that wasn’t initially as child-friendly as the publicity suggested.
However, the soundtrack then settled into something that felt more whimsical and both children and adults were clearly delighted by the dramatic acrobatics, trapeze stunts, and clowning.
This show about extreme cold is at once highly entertaining, deeply impressive, and unexpectedly warm-hearted.
Southbank Centre until 31st May.
Booking and full details: https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/blizzard/
