Cirque de Glace, Malvern Theatre

Article by: By Christine Shepherd teaches English at the Royal Grammar School Worcester

‘On ice?’ queried my husband. ‘Where will we be – on Malvern Priory Pond?’ Not used to the rink, neither of us could imagine how skaters could possibly whizz around the stage of the Malvern Theatres. But the theatre is always magic…and when those people – lithe, with boundless energy – appeared, we could only give ourselves up to the enjoyment of this amazing show.

The show was billed as a ‘spectacular’ and really it’s hard to know what else one could call such a visually stunning offering. From first to last the eye was enchanted, teased, mystified by a bewildering array of movements, interlaced with daredevil feats that left one quite frightened.

The story line, loosely based on the history of our planet, was worthy enough but predictable: naughty humans and their distasteful greedy ways with the planet. Nothing one could object to here; Al Gore would have warmed to this icy theme: but a bit puritanical. Real live chain-saws (gulp!) came through the forest cutting down the spirits of the trees. Some pontificating was done through a voice-over that reminded me of some of the more disapproving exhibits at the Science Museum. Money came in for a bit of stick as smart executives whirled around each other’s briefcases: industry and chemicals were depicted through film.

But never mind the story: watch the action! It would be unkind to speculate how much electricity was used in this production since it was all about taking care of our resources. As we puffed and creaked up the steps towards the exit, we felt old and extremely unpliable…

Cirque de Glace is on tour until June 28.