REVIEW: Cirque Eloize's Saloon at the Peacock Theatre
Posted on
If you are at a loose end for things to do this half term, take yourself and the family down to the [Peacock Theatre](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/venue/63/peacock-theatre.aspx) and check out [Cirque Eloize's Saloon](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/ballet/2828/cirque-eloize-saloon-tickets.aspx) which is running until 21st October.
In its 11th run, Saloon takes traditional circus acts and weaves them together with music and a storyline to form a show. As the name suggests, it is set in the Wild West and populated by recognisable character tropes. And what a show it is. The cast are an incredible bunch of acrobats, musicians and dancers: standouts are Félix Puliot’s Bartender, and Justine Methé Crozat’s The Ambitious.
The soundtrack is pulsating from the off with a trio of wily musicians under (and at times over) scoring the action. It was a veritable smorgasbord of music, an eclectic jamboree of noise. Where else will you hear Nirvana, Black Eyed Peas and Cotton Eye Joe in the space of the same 90 minutes?
I was particularly taken by Sophie Beaudet playing the spoons, a skill that has eluded me and was the stuff of my childhood dreams.
The show starts with some gravity-defying of pole climbing acrobatics and sets the bar rather high. However, it fails to maintain the standard throughout. At times the comedic interludes were a little too long but where it is punctuated with amazingly breath-taking acrobatics, the venue was agog and audible gasps filled the space. And that is what I wanted more of: the daredevil aerobatics, more of Methé Crozat suspended by her neck from a twirling wooden chandelier; more of Jérôme Hugo’s awe-inspiring flips.
That being said, Saloon is a burst of frenetic energy fuelled by the pulsating score and very clever set and light design which transported you to the American frontier. It is a rootin’ tootin’ whip cracking, lasso twirling, horse riding, (yes horse riding) entertaining show.
[Cirque Eloize: Saloon tickets](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/ballet/2828/cirque-eloize-saloon-tickets.aspx) are available, secure your tickets quickly before the end of its run at the [Peacock Theatre](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/venue/63/peacock-theatre.aspx).