Saw Varekai in Beaumont Texas tonight at the Ford Park Arena. I was a bit confused when they arrived there was no signage, no merchandise stand and no concession stand. We were being led into what looked like an empty arena by side doors. We go through some black curtains and find ourselves in the stands and looking for our seats which were flat on the floor about five rows from the front. I’ve been to quite a few Cirque shows by now and every one of them has had an atmosphere of surreal excitement going on outside… I recall the sets and props outside the tent at Ovo and how amazed The Small Child was at being able to get in amongst the oversized grasses and lit up flowers – this place had none of that. Not even a sign to let you know you were at the right show. The result being we felt like we could be getting let in to see a lecture or something and people were responding to the flat atmosphere accordingly.

We took our seats and had a good look around, the usual stage lighting, small amount of smoke and crickets and dripping noises made up the ambience inside. I was feeling a bit uneasy about it and my expectations lowered dramatically as I felt like this was budget Cirque somehow. Being in an arena just doesn’t have the same feel as the BIg Top or one of the dedicated theatres in Las Vegas. Had me a bit worried as I have Mr K lined up for about five shows and this was the first.

Unfortunately that feeling of slight disappointment lasted well through up until intermission. There was a lot of panto and time with the clowns on stage as well as quite a few dance scenes, but only four moderately impressive acts – two aerialists (the main character who falls from the heavens with wings and a lady in gold with a trapeze bar) and two acrobatic acts. They looked fabulous as per usual and the music was wonderful too, but there was none of the ‘OMG how the hell did they do that?’, gives you goosebumps, display of human ingenuity and physical endeavour that I tend to associate with the Cirque.

The second half however totally redeemed itself, some amazing balance and strength artists, some very accomplished aerialists and one of my favourites, a dozen guys on the Russian swings. They were fantastic, and I was so glad we came all the way to Texas to see them in the end. Mr K said he enjoyed it immensely as well, so now I am less worried about having lined him up to see so many shows, knowing that the others will have a vastly improved atmosphere over the arena setting too.