| Sexy, funny and dangerous, Soap features eight acrobats performing in, on, and around bathtubs in a show at West London's Riverside Studios that leaves the audience breathless in admiration. Created by Berlin company Circle of Eleven these awe-inspiring acts are a never-forgotten experience, writes OutUK's Mike Gray. . | |
| Straight from a ten month run in Berlin and devised by Markus Pabst, Soap is a variety night with a fusion of new circus and cabaret set within the original confines of a bathroom. Markus developed the show following the success of the Bath Boy act in the La Clique show recently seenat London's Roundhouse. In the show Marie the Clown stumbles into this mysterious world and discovers an array of eccentric characters who take it in turn to perform a dazzling array of acrobatics, dance, trapeze, burlesque, comedy and aerial work. The surreal bathroom setting makes for an intriguing and picturesque backdrop and the performers utilise the water and bathing equipment to great effect. There are moments of beauty, including a captivating gymnastic performance on a bath-edge, to moments of comedy, including a foot juggling act and an all male dancing striptease. There are witty dance routines with shower heads and an opera singer provides entertaining musical interludes throughout the show. As you'd imagine the cast includes some stunningly fit guys in wet speedos and displays a tremendous gay sensibility without losing a real universal appeal. But simply the show isgreat fun. Above all the cast demonstrate the beauty and strength of the human form. Soap is a truly cleansing theatrical experience; upbeat and fun, you'll never think of the bathroom in the same way again. SOAP is at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith until April 25th. Book online at riversidestudios.co.uk or call 020 8237 1111. |  Fernando Dudka and the company in show-stopping scenes from SOAP. |
