We knew we were in for something different when we heard the pre-show announcement. Instead of the usual make sure you turn of your phones, no photography or video, no eating inside the hall we were instead given this delivered in the most dead pan tone a person can manage:

“Please keep mobiles on as you never know who might be trying to call you.. Please feel free to use flash photography. You will only permanently blind the performers. Food and drink may be consumed in the theatre. Ushers will only spend an hour after the show cleaning up. Exits are everywhere because something terrible could happen during the show. Please use the restrooms at any time because you’ll never really know what you have missed. Video photography is allowed so you can share the beautiful memories with your family and friends forever.”

When we turned up at the Peacock theatre we were surprised at just how many little kids were there. The theatre must have been at least 50% filled with tots under 5. It made for quite an energetic environment that’s for sure with the kids running loose up and down the aisles before the start of the show!

So, on to the show! Traces is brought to the Peacock theatre by the performance troupe Les 7 Doigts de la Main whose members include performers who have come from the Cirque du Soleil stable. The only thing I really knew about Traces before booking tickets was that it was a dance/circus thing and that any show I’d ever seen at the Peacock theatre has always been interesting.

The show only has five performers who bring a mix of dance, acrobatics, skateboarding, basketball skills, chair juggling, musical skills (including playing the piano and guitar), and drawing skills (projected on to the back screen and also using chalk on the floor and on each other.) Admittedly many of the “tricks” I’d seen before however what makes the show different is the delivery of the tricks. Somehow all the performances are intertwined between each other and spun into a sort of story which includes individual (and real) profiles of each of the performers (including a slideshow of their kiddie pics.) All the performers play themselves so the sense of reality is heightened. For the most part the formula works though there are some awkward moments which clearly were used just to demonstrate the amazing skills of the performers but just couldn’t be worked into the story-line.

The most impressive aspect of the show was the fact that each trick depended on the last trick being performed exactly and on time. The sense of timing and co-ordination required to pull off the show was crucial and happily the troupe on stage were able to deliver – perfectly.