Back to the Future:

   Where else in the world would you be given a free clown nose for a show that does not feature a single clown?  The Cirque du Soleil’s show Kurios Cabinet of Curiosities opened a lot of unexpected doors to create a spectacle that was just about as quirky as it was mesmerising.

    The entryway to the show was adorned with free popcorn, cotton candy, and sodas, which might have been the strangest thing we saw all night. Mingling with the large crowd of people, workers dressed in costumes were passing out hor d’oeuvres. At most big name events water costs more than three dollars — here it was free.  

     Ushers waited past the entryway to direct audience members to their seats.  The round stage was dimly lit, and a creaky bridge extended from backstage.  Members of the audience were randomly pulled from the crowd to venture backstage and cross the bridge.  

    A few set pieces were chaotically spread across the stage.  The pieces were clearly placed strategically, but because they resembled scrap metal and had so many different parts, it looked more like an unorganized lab than a stage.   The main character of the show was a man who looked like a frazzled mad scientist called The Seeker, and when he entered the stage he fit right in with the set.

   There were thirteen acts of the show, which opened with loud, boisterous music and an industrial era train. Throughout the thirteen acts, The Seeker explored a series of oddities ranging from an invisible circus to Siamese twins doing aerial stunts.  The acts are meant to represent different figments of The Seekers imagination and how certain impossible things in his mind came to life.

    Each act evolved around a larger than life object that would normally be found inside a drawer of knicknacks or oddities — these items inspired the name of the show. The Seeker’s imagination is what powered the show, as he imagined opening books to find acrobats and a giant hand that featured actors dressed as fish performing on top of it.

   There was a very strong 1900s industrial vibe intermingled with a sci fi future. Set designer Stéphane Roy called it “an alternate reality, out of time.” A giant mechanical hand is featured twice in the show, once as a stage for contortionists and again as a platform for a short skit involving only hands called “Hands Continent.” The hand evoked a sense of industrialism because of its shiny metallic quality, but it also appeared futuristic because of its design quality.

   Other characters in the act were meant to evoke different vintage objects, such as a steam train, a telegraph, an accordion, and scrap metal robots.   Each of these characters had a futuristic twist, such as a telegraph of the invisible.  The retro-impossible theme gave an innocent and curious tone to the show that added energy as the characters explored the various sets and situations.  

   The show ended with 13 artists captivating the stage in an act called “Banquine” — in matching striped shirts they propelled each other through the air in flawlessly synchronized acrobatics.  The industrial exploration ended with the whole cast sprinting back on to the stage with three waves of bows.  

   Not only was the show eye opening because of the futuristic possibilities intermingled with the heart of the industrial era, but the theme continued throughout the audience as well.  The train in the beginning rode through the aisle in the crowd and  a woman was pulled from the audience to participate in a comic act. Adding to the magic of the show Thursday evening Bruins players Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand were sitting in the row behind us.  From the minute we passed through the gates from the parking lot, the show catapulted us through a series of curiosities into the past and future.