(OUTscene NW) RE-view: Edison Meets Freak Show in Cirque Du Soleil's "Kurios", playing at Seattle's Marymoor!

The Seeker                                                     /Cirque du Soleil

by MK Scott

Last week I caught American Experience on PBS, which focused on the life and accomplishments of Thomas Edison. A few months back, FX had American Horror Story: Freak Show. So, on Saturday I caught Cirque Du Soleil's "Kurios" at Marymoor Park, not too far from the Microsoft World Headquarters, of where both of those TV shows are combined in quite an impressive show!

Kurios is a Cirque du Soleil touring production under the full title of Kurios: Cabinet of Curiosities. Created and directed by Michel Laprise, it looks at a late-19th century world inventor who invents a machine that defies the laws of time, space and dimension in order to reinvent everything around him with steampunk elements featuring characters from another dimension that interact with him and a tribute to the power of the human imagination. For the Homage AHS: Freak Show, you have machines (Most invented by Edison from the Light bulb to the Electric Chair to the Movie Camera ) come to life. There were Siamese twins, contortionists, and a 3 foot tall woman, dressed like AHS:FS' Elsa. 


The Edison-like scientist is called The Seeker, who creates a machine to travel into another dimension to find the place where the possible and the impossible meet, only his plan backfires in an unusual way.

Compared to other Cirque shows, Kurios had dancers with top notch, choreography.  As usual, the acts is what was the most impressive.

Here are some of my Favorites:
An oddball ringmaster directs a miniature circus with invisible artists. Ranging from teeterboard to high diving to riding a unicycle on a tightrope, the acts all materialize in our minds by the sheer power of visual and sound effects – a poetic and comedic nod to the traditional circus arts. Borrowing a female member of the audience, the Ringmaster/clown prepares a romantic date in which he does spot-on impersonations of a cat, a Tyrannosaurus rex, and various other things.This comedy portion was way better than 2013's Amaluna and even Zumanity in Vegas.

A Mirror image upside down!

Dinner guests are stunned by the telekinetic powers of one of their table companions who can make a chandelier suspended above their heads move. Another guest challenges him by piling up chairs in an attempt to reach the chandelier. All of a sudden, the group realizes that their exact double exists in a parallel universe right above them where the same scene is unfolding… but upside down! In this original chair-balancing act, they will compete against each other through feats of ingenuity and daring to achieve their ends.

Act 2
Above a vast ocean, underwater creatures pirouette, bounce and rebound on a net that covers the entire stage. Their street-style performance is mixed with pure trampoline techniques. The net is tuned so that the artists standing on the surface can use their legs to modulate the amplitude of the bouncing motion, at times creating a slingshot effect that propels their teammates almost to the top of the big to

The Twins are FREE at Last!

“Siamese twins” hanging in the air from straps are separated and Shirtless at last when they fly high above the stage in a series of acrobatic figures, sometimes as a pair, sometimes solo. The two artists soar to impressive heights and crisscross above the stage while performing synchronized figures that require flawless timing.

A group of 13 artists perform spectacular sequences of perfectly synchronized acrobatics and human pyramids that showcase the amazing agility of the human body. In addition to standing three and four high on each other’s shoulders, the artists take off, somersault and crisscross in the air on three levels: the ground, a monolith positioned centre-stage, and in the audience.

Compared to Amaluna (a Retelling of the Tempest)  in 2013, Kurios has all the elements and more because of the Timing with Edison and Freak Show as the key features.

Cirque Du Soleil's "Kurios" is playing at Seattle's Marymoor Park through March 22nd. Click Here for Tickets!