Chinese State Circus
We went to see the Chinese State Circus, featuring the Shaolin Wu-Shu Warriors and Peking Opera, at the Lowry last night. After enjoying the Tower Circus in Blackpool so much a few weeks ago I couldn’t resist getting tickets when I saw this advertised.
I thought that Mark would love this as he’s really keen on martial arts and he’s fascinated by far east Asian culture generally. I wasn’t wrong. I also enjoyed it, the bits I could see anyway. Unfortunately for me I was sat behind the world’s tallest woman so I could only see about a third of the stage at a time. This wasn’t really the woman’s fault - she can’t help being tall. The designers of the Lyric Theatre, however are fair game and need their arses kicking. Man has been building theatres for hundreds of years, and this is the best they can come up with - pathetic. I expect there was a committee involved. And the coffee is crap!
There were a number of particularly spectacular entertainments which caused the guy in the couple sat next to us to make exclaimations such as ‘extraordinary’ and ’superb’. He was quite charming really and made you realise how much fun these things must be when you leave your cynicism at home. I confess I was a little jealous of him as my cynicism doesn’t seem to come with an off switch. Mark usually expresses how impressed he is withi something by fidgiting slightly and saying ‘wo hooo!’ very quietly. Unless it’s football in which case the ‘wo hooos’ are clearly audible down the street.
We both really enjoyed the hoop diving where a troop of acrobats did extraordinary somersaults and leaps and feats of timing through a range of hoops. I think that was my favourite bit. The ‘Happy Cooks’ from the Peking Opera were great too - a kind of comedy duo with spinning plates. Instead of a tight rope they had a slack wire - like a tight rope but, not surprisingly, slack - which actually looks more difficult. Just walking along it looked hard enough, but then the artist starting doing forward and back rolls and even rode along it on a unicycle.
After the interval the two most impressive acts were the jar jugglers and the human chandelier. The jar jugglers do precisely that - juggle big plant pots - but with such extraordinary control and precision that you can’t help but be impressed. The human chandelier is a contortionist who has five large candelabras balanced on her head, hands and feet - her poise and grace was mesmerising. I think this may have been Mark’s favourite bit although he hasn’t actually said so.
The Shaolin Wu-Shu Warriors are crazy young men - I don’t care how spiritual they are. They are nuts. I wouldn’t let anyone break paving slabs on my stomach while I was lying on a bed of nails with my mate lying underneath me on another bed of nails. Nor would I let anyone break bricks on my head with a sledgehammer. I have to confess I really don’t understand it.
It was good and Mark was a very happy man. I just wish I’d had a better view.