The Olivier Award winning cabaret La Clique has returned to the Spiegeltent in the heart of Leicester Square’s Christmas market. Forget mulled wine and roasted chestnuts, this stylish and sexy show featuring Berlin nightclub-style performers will warm your cockles with its host of international circus and cabaret stars.
Presided over by darkly deviant Mistress of Ceremonies, Bernie Dieter, the 105 minute long production (including interval) by the team at London’s Underbelly makes the perfect end to a day of Christmas shopping in the West End. I caught the opening night and loved the mix of pure “how the hell do they do that?” aerial circus skills, old-skool belly-laughs combined with just the right amount of hold-your-breath danger and “oh behave” sexiness.
Risqué enough to keep it edgy yet nothing so extreme you couldn’t bring your mother…especially if she likes ogling fit men in tiny shorts swinging around the big top (and there was certainly more than one ‘big top’ in this show, from what I could see). Stand-out acts were fire-breathing sword-swallower Heather Holliday and roller-skating royalty Pierre and Steph, the third generation of circus family, The Skating Willers, who have been on a roll, literally, since 1982.
Seats start from £21 (try seeing a West End show anywhere else for that) and there are boxes available as well as a licensed bar to keep everyone lubricated before, throughout and after the show.
La Clique runs until the 8th January.
Venue: The Leicester Square Spiegeltent
Christmas in Leicester Square WC2H 7NA
Time: Tuesday – Thursday 7.30pm
Friday and Saturday 7pm and 9.45pm
Sunday 5pm
*Some timings change performance to performance. Please check the website for the most up to date times.
Box Office: Online or in person at Christmas in Leicester Square from 12 November.
Advice: Recommended for over 16s.
Under 16s must be accompanied by a responsible adult.
Website: lacliquetheshow.com
Facebook: @lacliquetheshow
Instagram: @lacliquetheshow
by Russell Higham for TNT Magazine