Week fifty-two

I sit here very much in 2 minds about whether I'm relieved and delighted to be writing my final blog or whether I'm a little sad that it has come to an end.  Obviously, I could, if I wanted to, carry it on into 2012 but to be honest, it has taken rather a lot out of me and meant that other things in my life have been a bit neglected.  But, let me tell you about all of that a little bit later.  First, I want to regale with week 52.

I was hoping that it was going to be my grand finale; a stupendous spectacular that would wrap up the year in magnificent style.  It certainly sounded as if it would.  Slava's Snowshow is internationally acclaimed and is touted as a visual masterpiece that is a combination of theatrical clowning and stunning spectacle.  Apparently loved by children and adults alike, it is performed by a highly renowned Russian clown company, led by Slava Polunin.  It is renowned for the audience participation and that the dream-like world created by the show ends in a huge snow blizzard across the entire theatre.  It sounded fairly exciting to me.

My friend Adrian and I arrived at The Royal Festival Hall unsure of what to expect but after walking into a packed theatre, we were eager for the show to begin.  Ethereal music started playing and a scary looking clown in a yellow boiler suit waddled on stage.  Then some more scary looking clowns who, oddly enough looked homeless in some oversized tatty green coats came on stage.  I can see why some children hate clowns, they look so sad, with those painted frowns. I suppose it just adds to the pathetic fallacy since these clowns were doing a lot of slow movements, tripping over and looking lost.  I could see a lot of Chaplin in them and they did have some delightful comic precision.

But, as the first half went on, I saw a lot more style than substance.  Everything looked very beautiful but  each scene didn't really flow into the next - there was no real story.  There was lots of gorgeous sparkly things and endless bubbles that floated out into the stage, but it was all a little pointless.

However, there were some lovely moments when as 2 clowns glided on stage on a boat made from a bed and Chariots of Fire played with smoke whirring around as the sea, another clown shimmied along the floor with a fin attached to his back.  Then, before the interval an endless silvery web came down from the ceiling and the clowns passed it along the heads of the engaged audience.

The music that played throughout was excellent and really highlighted the emotion that the clowns were  evoking as they moved silently but with a comic shuffle around the stage that reminded me of pachyderms. I really liked the main music that played throughout; a spy-like jazz soundtrack with beats and just a hint of Eastern magic.

Much of the second half was a little disappointing; a lot of the same as before but much more childlike with a silly scene involving 2 large foam phones and some strange duck-like noises, which made me think of Pingu but wasn't anywhere near as funny.  All I was waiting for was the big finale with the snowstorm.  It came with mountains of ticker-tape being blasted into the audience with a suitably grandiose soundtrack in Carmina Burana.

It was a fairly dazzling display but to top it off the clowns then released a ton of ginormous coloured balls that slowly bounced around the theatre with everyone joining in, in some sort of strange game of slow-motion volleyball.  For me, this was definitely the highlight of the show and something that certainly would be loved by both children and adults, but for the most part I was a little confused as to who Slava is trying to reach with this show.  It was all very beautiful, considered and quaint but just a little pointless and amateur for adults. As for children, I felt like a lot of it was, quite frankly, a bit scary with the electronic bleepy music, the smokey landscapes and the evil looking clowns in boiler suits.

Its a shame that my final week wasn't as joyous and sensational as I thought it would be, but when I think back to everything I did this year it really doesn't matter.  I did 52 things this year that I'd not done before and probably wouldn't have done if it wasn't for this challenge I set myself.  I've discovered that there is never nothing to do in London, there are a myriad of possibilities each and every day pertaining to all of our various proclivities.  Get out and try them all.  Enjoy this wonderful city.

I really hope you've all enjoyed reading about my exploits over the year - please do email me with any comments, suggestions for 2012 and any other opinions.   These were my top ten from the year, let me know if you've done any of them.

Classic Car Night Drive
Table Tennis at Wiltons Music Hall
Private open air cinema at The Berkley
Sofar Sounds
2.8 Hours Later
Comedy Store Players
World Book Night launch
Afternoon tea at The Sanderson
The Literary Salon
Late nights at The Science Museum