THE ILLUSIONISTS 1903
THE ILLUSIONISTS 1903, Sydney Opera House to 28 December 2015; Arts Centre, Melbourne, 2-10 January 2016.
BY junior reviewers FELICITY & JAMES (Cardsharp) DAYHEW
The Illusionists 1903 is an eye-catching show that will entertain ages from eight upwards, because some of the tricks may be a bit scary for the younger ones as they seem very realistic.
The venue of the Opera House was perfect as it gave the air of an old time feel. The lighting and costumes fitted in to make the whole thing very realistic.
They were wearing old time clothes with long flowing dresses and top hats and tails. We felt that it was like going back into a time machine and looking at life in the early 1900s. The stage was dark and mysterious. There was a gramophone in the background for the whole show giving you an idea of the time that the show was set.
The sound was an important part of the show as it helped to create more mystery and suspense by using slow and low sounds that were paced to the tricks being performed.
The show displayed all types of magic. There were death defying escapes, classic tricks like sawing a woman in half, levitation, mind reading clairvoyants, a magical puppeteer, and card tricks that were shown with a big screen showing the close up moves.
Dwayne the Dove was our favourite bit as it included humour and also magic. This was the name of the magician’s (The Charlaton's) bird. As this can be a tense show it is good to have a bit that makes you laugh. He involved people from the audience and made jokes about the fact that Dwayne was just a bird so the best of assistants. Dwayne was a local bird replacing his usual partner Luigi the green parrot. The Charlaton mimicked Luigi’s voice saying. “I can’t believe you replaced me with a white guy”
The Escapologist had a spin on the original Houdini escape because the audience could see the whole act, there was no curtain covering the “water torture chamber”. He showed you what he was using and what he had to do to escape his tank of water. There was also a camera that focused on his every move, which made it even more tense.
To sum up the show, it is entertaining, full of comedy and at the same time mysterious. Having watched all these tricks in person we still cannot work out how they were done, which makes for a fantastic show. We were lucky enough to meet and speak to some of the cast at the end of the show which was also fantastic. This show will inspire people of all ages to start doing magic.
