Whimsical and moving, Slava’s Snowshow takes Elgin Theatre audiences by storm

“One day I realised that I wanted to create a show that would take us back to our childhood dreams; a show which would help spectators be released from the jail of adulthood and rediscover their forgotten childhood.”

The speaker is famed Russian clown Slava Polunin. The show is his unique creation Slava’s Snowshow. Like pretty snowflakes that dance and swirl before thickening into a blizzard, Slava’s Snowshow slipped into Toronto just before Christmas, and has taken firm possession of Toronto’s historic Elgin Theatre for the final days of 2023. 

And the show delivers marvellously on its creator’s ambitious intent. 

Slava’s Snowshow has been staged more than 12,000 times in 225 cities across 40 countries since its inaugural performance in 1993, and is an enchanting expedition into a surreal and poetic universe.  From the moment the curtains rise, we are invited to enter a dreamlike world that blurs the boundaries between reality and fantasy, and the whimsical and the profound. We watch a clown in yellow navigating between the strangeness of the objects outside him and the emotions that well up inside him. His only companions are other clowns who are dressed identically in green. Playful and silly mimics, they thwart his efforts to make sense of his world. They cause us to laugh . . . but also to feel a twinge of regret. 

And this is typical, for Polunin, who is a visionary in the world of clowning and theatrical expression, orchestrates a veritable symphony of emotions in Slava’s Snowshow. Each act unfolds like a deeply felt, tenderly written and exactingly enacted poem. And since the show has no conventional dialogue, it speaks volumes through its powerful visual storytelling. The artistry of the main character — this melancholic, yet endearingly playful clown who uses his body to inflate and grow . . . or shrink and deflate in response to his surroundings — is a conduit to our inner child. He beckons us to a land where we feel our surroundings; and where balloons are not mere objects, but characters with souls, and gigantic cobwebs are not just props, but portals to our deepest emotions.

What sets Slava’s Snowshow apart from other shows is this uncanny ability to convey profound emotions – and directly access the imagination of our inner child – through the power of simplicity.  The show makes surprising and strong use of familiar objects and elemental forces like wind, snow, and water – all of which transcend language and cultural barriers, speaking directly to the heart.  And in case I am waxing too poetic, the results are visually astonishing and universally pleasing to adults and children alike, whose appreciative murmurs and shrieks of delight filled the Elgin on the day I attended. 

And that brings me to the special, subversive genius of Slava’s Snowshow, which is its inexorable, gravitational pull of the audience right into the performance – and not just emotionally. From the start, all of the clowns, yellow and green alike, are aware of and interact with the audience. At first, they see us and react with just a raised eyebrow or simple gesture. Then they begin to imitate or gently mock individual audience members, or perhaps reach out to brush a flake of “snow” off them. Soon enough, the clowns are leading us in clapping and noise-making. Then, after many audience members have left the auditorium during intermission, the green clowns unexpectedly return to the stage and begin making their way off the stage and into the audience, with hilarious, chaotic and …. elemental results. 

And finally, in the literally breathtaking, utterly astonishing and truly delightful closing sequence, the on-stage world sweeps right out over the audience – creating a vast, visceral, one-of-a-kind shared experience. This moment, which is like a painter using the boldest of strokes on a vast theatre-sized canvas, is both exhilarating and introspective, for the interaction is both physical and emotional. We are not just onlookers: we are participants in the climax of a strange, wondrous journey of self-discovery. 

And then a seemingly endless procession of gargantuan bouncy balls tumbles out among the seats . . . and the audience participation dial moves up to 11. The auditorium dissolves into shared, childlike wonder. Children and adults alike find themselves laughing, gasping, and perhaps even shedding a tear, for the show resonates with something fundamental inside us all.

In the end,  Slava’s Snowshow delivers a unique dual value proposition that pays off handsomely Polunin’s desire to “take us back to our childhood dreams” – and it does so by providing more than simple escapism. The show provides a dazzling, one-of-a-kind physical experience that is magical, whimsical and utterly breathtaking. At the same time, it takes us on a mysterious emotional odyssey that explores themes of loneliness, joy, connection, and the relentless pursuit of happiness – all without uttering one intelligible word of dialogue. 

Expect to leave the theatre with vivid memories  . . . and an aching sense of wonder and introspection. 

Slava’s Snowshow continues its world tour with stops in Quebec, Canada in January and February, 2024. Reserve tickets on slavasnowshow.com.

© Scott Sneddon, Sesayarts Magazine, 2023