Murmurs @ Southbank

As a child I remember being told I was being taken to the circus. So psyching myself up to see elephants with tea cosys on their heads, ringleaders with handle bar moustaches and acrobats that could bend like rubber; I was as excitable as a 9 year old could be. However, at Cirque du Soleil I was pounced upon a ghastly clown that shoved a kit kat in my face and incomprehensibly made noises that my little imagination could not endure so I hid behind my father. Despite this minor encounter this show with all its glory was tantaslising visual fanfare with elaborate costumes of enlarged proportions and dynamic styling paired with atmospheric lighting and poised comedy, acrobatic and dancing routines.

So when I saw 'Murmurs' show at the Southbank Centre advertised in a little box on my facebook account I clicked on the link (of which hardly ever happens). Depicting a 'woman fleeing from reality' Charlie Chaplin's great grand-daughter actress Aurélia Thierrée plays the main protagonist who lives out of packed up boxes, encountering a variety of characters along the way in a world of illusion, theatre and dance.

In an age when I feel my imagination is failing me and magic seems extinguished with the looming double dip recession and the likes of the Littlewoods product endorsement or M&S' showcase of Xfactor contestants in the recent UK Christmas ads; the southbank show is very much welcomed in my eyes. Having watched a TED video with psychiatrist Iain MacGilchrist questioning the rationality of the left hemisphere of the brain over the suffering artist that is the silent right side of the brain; I think it is important to nurture interests that capture us no matter how superficial the experience may be or not constructive to our everyday working lives. Just the desire to see this show allowed me to type this post.