The show at UCLA an attractively staged spectacle, really consists of a series of skits ranging from pure sight gags, to quasi-existentialist pieces of performance theatre, to occasionally inspired acts of audience interaction. All lack coherent dialogue and most are completely silent, but all make use of pretty visual tricks and a dramatic but not overbearing score. The best of these involve just a hint of story, a whiff of character that offers a semblance of meaning to latch on to. Lesser skits suffer from a case of Avant-Garde Syndrome, in which nothing really happens but are pretty to watch for the first few seconds before the mind wanders. Overall, we have a show stronger in its second half than its first, with the comic and the touching eking out the attention-deflecting elements by a reasonable margin.
It would be an easy jump from the very surreal nature of the performance to interpreting the show as a kind of dream. In the manner of Alice and the Red King, one could ask: Are the clowns part of the audiences dream or is it the other way around? But there comes a point where the dream analogy breaks down, because even that imposes too much of an analytical structure on the performance. Slavas Snowshow is a sensory experience rather than an intellectual one, which provides plenty of whimsical magic for the inner child but not much for the mind to do. In other words, this is a show best experienced rather than discussed or thought about. But while escaping the confines of the thinking mind may, in fact, be the point, a performance that isnt as intellectually stimulating as it is sensually pleasurable isnt quite on a par with one that is both.
The High Price of Snow
So without having anything to discuss in regards to characters, plots or tangible themes, we are left with judging the quality of the Slavas Snowshow experience itself. On its own, its an experience of some magic and wonder. Yet in a grander context, it isnt worth ticket prices ranging from $32 to $68 $32, maybe, but definitely not $68. In terms of spectacle, its very much a smaller-scale derivative of things weve seen before in Cirque du Soleil and other clown acts. And while it has some uniquely imaginative touches,the Kirk Douglas Theatres production of all wear bowlers, with an intriguing opening that involved scruffy Chaplins coming out from a movie screen, had a better overall success at dazzling with displays of cleverness. In terms of pure entertainment value, while it says something that the audience was persuaded to stay after the shows end and play with childish abandon for a while, Slavas Snowshow still doesnt quite measure up to, say, the hysterical dinner-theatre-circus-cabaret musical acrobatic antics of the Teatro Zinzanni in San Francisco.
Of course, there is something to be said for a production that aims to be quietly beautiful instead of boisterously so. And that finale? If anything can rival being snowed on at Disneylands Main Street, the finale might very well be it. But while the audience generously gave Slavas Snowhow a standing ovation, it would have been enough to remain seated and clap vigorously.
Slavas Snowshow is currently playing at UCLAs Royce Hall until Jan. 7. For more information, visit www.uclalive.org.