“We would like to thank our partner Air Canada,” announces a “wearyingly jaunty clown” at the start of Kurios: Cabinet of Curiosities – Cirque du Soleil’s 35th “world-conquering” spectacular. “Oh no, you think,” said Dominic Maxwell in The Times. Is a certain corporate naffness going to overwhelm the “jaw-dropping skill and bravery of the acrobats”? Fear not. “By the end of this weird and wondrous evening I wanted to thank Air Canada too” – although it would be at the back of a long queue.
Cirque du Soleil has produced a terrific show, infused with a “gently spooky sense of joy”: there are “capering ‘conjoined’ twins”, women in steel-hooped skirts descending from the ceiling, a locomotive that glides onto the stage, and a “mid-air juggler who hurtles towards the ground but keeps on working. And that’s only the opening number.”
The concept holding the evening together is a “steampunk world of retro-futuristic inventions”, said Lyndsey Winship in The Guardian: hot-air balloons and “madcap” Heath Robinson contraptions, rivets, bolts and leather flying goggles. It adds “whimsical character” to the well-oiled Cirque machine. But it’s merely a frame for some genuinely astonishing stunts, grand illusions and acrobatics that make the stomach lurch with “visceral” fear – and the heart leap with “pure joy”.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
There is, perhaps, a bit of padding, said Bruce Dessau in the Evening Standard. A white-clad “seeker” oversees proceedings without adding much, and an “invisible circus” section – with objects such as a tightrope moving as if someone is on it – falls a bit flat. But overall, Kurios is a winner, with a less glossily corporate feel than some Cirque shows.
Look out for the moment when a giant hand rolls on and a group of contortionists emerge from it – the prelude to a set piece in which a dinner scene on the stage is miraculously replicated on the Royal Albert Hall’s ceiling. Be warned: you “will spend so much time gazing up in awe you might wake with a stiff neck. But it will be worth it.”
Royal Albert Hall, London SW7 (020-7589 8212). Until 5 March
-
Why Britain is struggling to stop the ransomware cyberattacksThe Explainer New business models have greatly lowered barriers to entry for criminal hackers
-
Greene’s rebellion: a Maga hardliner turns against TrumpIn the Spotlight The Georgia congresswoman’s independent streak has ‘not gone unnoticed’ by the president
-
Crossword: October 26, 2025The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Roasted squash and apple soup recipeThe Week Recommends Autumnal soup is full of warming and hearty flavours
-
6 well-crafted log homesFeature Featuring a floor-to-ceiling rock fireplace in Montana and a Tulikivi stove in New York
-
Film reviews: A House of Dynamite, After the Hunt, and It Was Just an AccidentFeature A nuclear missile bears down on a U.S. city, a sexual misconduct allegation rocks an elite university campus, and a victim of government terror pursues vengeance
-
Book reviews: ‘Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife’ and ‘Make Me Commissioner: I Know What’s Wrong With Baseball and How to Fix It’Feature Gertrude Stein’s untold story and Jane Leavy’s playbook on how to save baseball
-
Rachel Ruysch: Nature Into ArtFeature Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, through Dec. 7
-
Music reviews: Olivia Dean, Madi Diaz, and Hannah FrancesFeature “The Art of Loving,” “Fatal Optimist,” and “Nested in Tangles”
-
Gilbert King’s 6 favorite books about the search for justiceFeature The journalist recommends works by Bryan Stevenson, David Grann, and more
-
Ready for the apocalypseFeature As anxiety rises about the state of the world, the ranks of preppers are growing—and changing.
