La Soiree

The Aldwych Theatre has been taken over for the festive season by La Soiree, with their wicked cocktail of cabaret, burlesque and circus acts. If you’ve seen La Soiree before, it was probably in a Spiegeltent or at a festival and I’m glad to say that their cheeky spirit has not been dampened by the West End transfer.

Despite the restrictions of the proscenium arch, a sense of the round is created by seating audience members at round tables on the stage whilst the performance space creeps forwards into the main body of the stalls. When the extraordinary rope and aerial acts take off, the seats in the circle must be the best in the house.

Naturally those on and around the stage are targets for Amy G who along with Vegas couple, Daredevil Chicken, binds the show together, with their bawdy and clever cabaret acts. Amy G is completely fearless, crossing into topical territory about consent with wry wit. Having spotted Tony Robinson (Baldrick) in the audience (Baldrick) she plays her golden kazoo from an unmentionable orifice to the tune of Black Adder.

From the ridiculous to the sublime –watching German gymnast Lea Hinz spin from a hoop high up in the vaults of the theatre is pure poetry, in a Wonder Woman meets Coco Chanel advert kind of way. Hackney born LJ Marles with his super cool aerial straps is another one to sit back and enjoy.

By contrast, I could barely watch the Chilly Brothers fling each other into the air from a high platform. By the time they were doing it blind-fold, I was covering my eyes too. It doesn’t take a coward like me to work out that there’s plenty of wrong flings that could leave the smaller brother splattered against the metal rigging a few inches to the side.

La Soiree continues to amaze and delight with their mixture of extraordinary physical feats and totally irreverent comedy. Be prepared to laugh one minute and gasp the next. A definite addition to the West End Festive season.