Leicester Square Spiegeltent traditionally hosts La Clique’s Christmas production from November until early January. Surrounded by festive stalls adds to the festive mood. This year La Clique celebrate their 20th Anniversary. The host for the evening was La Clique’s creator David Bates.

There’s a range of acts to entertain and wow the audience. Miranda Menzies opened the evening show with an eye-watering hair suspension act taking place in the air above the auditorium. From the untrained eye it looks incredibly painful however the time and practice it must have taken to master this act makes Menzies performance even more impressive. Later in the show she performs with huge balloon, as pictured below.

There was a Diablo provocative flirting performance by Asher Treleaven, the highly acclaimed tap-dancing performer Bayley Graham, and newcomers who are billed as the “dysfunctional duo” Isis Clegg-Vinell and Nathan Price who performed part of their act on rollerskates.

We saw a breathtaking performance by Danik Abishev who performed with ladders. Balancing without any support relies solely on his body’s strength and balance. The real “wow” moment arrives when the bottom of the ladder he is on catches fire (all part of the act).

Florian Brooks was my favourite act of the night supported by his goldfish Bubbles (not a real fish). Dressed in a smart dinner suit he appears nonchalant at first. With the precision and balance used in his juggling act you know he is completely in control of his act throughout.

Some of the La Clique performers change throughout the run in Leicester Square which means you might not necessarily see the acts mentioned although other artists will join and take their place.

The main stage area is designed in a round setting. However, the majority of the performances faced forward and as I sat nearer the back of the Spiegeltent, much of the performances I could only see their backs. Treleaven and Brooks did take the staging into account and moved around the stage to allow all the audience to watch them.

The edgy risk-taking element of La Clique that I have seen in previous productions was missing this year. If you have never seen the show before it’s a solid introduction to what La Clique can offer.

For more information about La Clique please check out the link below.

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Three Stars.

Photography by Craig Sugden.

In 2024, don’t miss La Clique Lates! 9.30pm on Fridays and Saturdays, 70 minutes, no interval. The perfect festive late night out.