Theater Review: ‘Zarkana’

NEW YORK—Part sublime spectacle, part theatrical experience, part rock opera and all thrilling to behold, Zarkana, the latest offering from Cirque du Soleil, is a truly unique blending of acrobatics, humor, and showmanship, all of which burst forth at New York Radio City Music Hall.

Leading the way is Zark (Garou), a magician and ringmaster who serves as the sometimes guide throughout the production. He takes the audience into different planes of reality, which lead into the different acrobatic performances.

There is no linear through line per se in the various situations (most of which consist of different acrobatic activities), and it’s not always easy to make out what Garou or Cassiopée, his female vocal counterpart, are singing about. Fortunately, the intent and feelings of the songs come through full force, adding an extra layer to the various acts being performed—such as a high wire sequence taking place over a “flaming pit of doom.”

The performances start off with some enjoyable juggling by Maria Choodu, followed by a sort of ladder ballet and then a rope duet, the latter showing the performers (Di Wu and Jun Guo) doing some amazing movements as they glide through the air on a rope suspended above the stage.

There’s also a very colorful flag extravaganza in which the performers toss huge flags back and forth, ever higher, in ever-increasing numbers, and in near perfect synchronization. Other high points include a spectacular trapeze sequence that’s both spellbinding and nerve-wracking (for the audience anyway) and fantastic to behold.

Wisely choosing to vary the tempo between the different sections of the show, director Francois Girard at times forsakes the superlative for the sublime, as with a sand painting sequence where performer Erika Chen, accompanied by some suitable mood music, creates a series of beautiful images, her efforts projected upon a screen for all to see.

Girard, who also wrote the piece, also manages to work in a goodly amount of humor, usually through the use of several clowns, one of whom takes a journey to another planet and finds he is among strange beings indeed—all played for comic relief of course.

Zarkana takes more than a few good-natured pokes at the Broadway musical “Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark”—such as a clown flying around the entire Radio City venue on a similar looking type of apparatus as used in various Spider-Man sequences. Tossing in a Spider-Man T-shirt at one point was also a nice touch.

One of the more breathtaking moments was the “Wheel of Death” sequence, which featured two performers (Ray Navas Velez, Rudy Navas Velez) moving about inside two sections of a giant wheel (think of a hamster running in a cage), then climbing on the top and sides of the contraption, while running, jumping, and free-falling in time to the music and movements of the device.

What sets this show apart from other acrobatic efforts of this type are its excellent production values, from Stéphane Roy’s masterful sets, making use of just about every inch of the Radio City Music Hall stage, to Alan Hranitelj’s numerous and at times form-fitting costumes, and Alain Lortie’s lighting.

Also deserving of mention is the image work done by Raymond St-Jean, where in certain sequences, one needs a moment to tell what is real and what is not. All of which combine to create an atmosphere that sustains the audience’s enthusiasm from one sequence to the next, making for a completely unique experience. (There’s even a bit of audience participation at one point.)

Also in the cast are Anastasia Dvoretskaya, Victoria Dvoretskaya, Dmitry Dvoretskiy, Frederico Pisapia, Giuseppe Schiavo, Vincenzo Schiavo, Marco Senatore, Carole Demers, Johnny Gasser, Yuri Kreer, Roberto Navas Yovany, and Anatoly Zalevskiy.