Magical, enchanting, hilarious, joyous, tragic. I’m struggling to find the correct collection of adjectives to put my experience of Slava’s Snow Show into words.
Multi award winning, international sensation Slava’s Snow Show is currently at Bristol Hippodrome between now and December 2nd. Followed by a short stint at Mayflower Theatre Southhampton (Dec 5-9th) before returning to London’s Southbank Centre for Christmas.
Slava’s Snow Show first came onto my radar in the late 90’s when I was working as a circus artist. Many of my colleagues in the circus community had seen it and recommended it to me. I didn’t manage to see it until now.
Having seen the show last night I’m still buzzing today. It was a truly unique experience, immersive, multi sensory and I’m not exaggerating when I say it has left me with a new perspective on what theatre is for, what it can look like and how it can affect it’s audience.
Slava’s Snow Show is performed by nine physical performers, with two central clown characters. The clowns go on a journey through winter, and in their relationship with each other. Beautiful imagery, and moments so ridiculous you have to laugh out loud, punctuate sensory experiences created using sound, lighting and unusual props.
Skilled physical performance carries this show, I particularly enjoyed the scene where the yellow clown shares a moment with a coat on a hat stand. I’ve seen this illusion before, but never performed so convincingly. Despite knowing how it was done I still found myself questioning whether another performer was involved in animating the coat.
One of the things that really touched me about this show was the impact on the adults in the audience. Watching their faces, childlike in wonder, arms stretched for physical contact with the scene, as a large roll of mesh netting covered all of us in the stalls. Ditto the snow storm at the end, I found myself grinning, laughing and experiencing a rare moment of pure joy as I was blown about and covered in tissue paper.
There are so many beautiful moments that I want to tell you about them all, but instead I’ll simply state see this show, don’t miss it, make time, engage with your inner child and feel good.
Slava’s Snow Show is recommended for children aged eight and above, and children under three will not be allowed in. We took Wonder Girl aged six and she really enjoyed it.
For more information and to book tickets visit the Slava’s Snow Show website.