toruk

Cirque du Soleil’s TORUK The First Flight is showing now at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Boondall and last night I went along to check it out. Ticketek describes it as ‘narrated by a “Na’vi Storyteller” and populated by unforgettable characters, TORUK The First Flight is a mythical tale set thousands of years before the events depicted in the film AVATAR, and before any humans ever set foot on Pandora.’

This is my sixth (or seventh?) Cirque Du Soleil experience – I love that they’re full immersion and beyond your wildest dreams. Being a long time fan, it was strange however to find that the stage was not set in the big top tent as per usual. Even though I knew it was at the Entertainment Centre, I had still presumed there would be a tent. It takes away a little from the experience and the drama of it.

While the tent was MIA, the stage design could not be faltered. Absolutely incredible backdrop design and integration of props. The setting was so versatile. It changed from a raging ocean to a field to a jungle and many more scenes throughout the show, all with the same base. They utilised projectors and light in a remarkable way to bring the entire set to life. They are masters at drawing your attention away from the changing spaces and without you even noticing, there’s suddenly a whole new scene in front of you and you hadn’t even noticed the plants moving.

The theatre and drama in this show is much stronger than in others I have seen. There isn’t as much focus on the musicians and while the acrobats are still out-of-this-world-ridiculously-amazing there is not as emphasis on them either. It’s hard to pick a favorite scene but any with the Tree of Souls in it is visually spectacular and also the dancing flowers – wow! And the costumes!! Meticulous and creative designs, they’re works of art.

Top Tips For The Show:

• Try get seats that are higher up, you can definitely see more and have a better visual experience.
• Eat before you arrive, food is crap at the venue.
• Bring $15 cash for parking otherwise you have to go use the ATM before the show to pay the parking people.
• Your bag MUST be under A4 size otherwise you HAVE to check it into the cloakroom – annoying but at least it is free!
• Bring a jumper and wear long pants – it is damn near freezing in there with the aircon on!! Great place to take a date for a little snuggle action..
• Don’t try too hard with the app – I could barely get it to work.

Interestingly (and I would add impressively), instead of trying to get the audience to put their phones away, there is a huge push to integrate them into the show with an interactive app. During set times throughout the event, a notification pops up encouraging you to enter the app and interact with the scene. I couldn’t get majority of the interactive sets to work however I did get a few. It’s an awesome way to bring the lighting from the stage out into the arena – the app lights up the audience’s phones to the music!

My only fault for the show? Sometimes there was just too much to watch and I was unsure where to turn my attention to. If that’s the worst I can do, then it’s not hard to tell that it’s fantastic and definitely worth grabbing a seat to if you get a chance!