one4review | On 06, Aug 2023

 

Multi-award winning, internationally renowned Hungarian cirque dance company Recirquel return to the Edinburgh Fringe with their latest creation IMA. Following their successful run in 2017 with Paris de Nuit and in 2018 with their show My Land (which apparently won more 5 star reviews than any other show that year), IMA (the Hungarian word for Pray) is yet another incredible immersive circus experience. 

The show is performed in a purpose built arena within Murrayfield ice rink (only a short bus journey from Princes Street). There you will be greeted by the wonderful Assembly staff who guide you through the process of the venue. When you arrive you are given a piece of ribbon. You are then guided through into a mausoleum-like room that has a grey carpeted wall with benches around a wall of ribbons. You are encouraged to tie your ribbon to the wall, making a wish or place it in memory of a loved one. There is music chiming in the background to help you relax and clear your mind (which will really help immerse you in the show you are about to see). When the show is due to start you are then taken down a dark tunnel where you will see a ghost/angel like figure standing in the middle of the stage. The room is completely dark with twinkling lights in the ceiling giving you this feeling of standing in a desert looking at the stars in the sky. The seats are deliberately spread apart so that you feel on your own and therefore making it possible to completely immerse yourself in the whole experience of the show. 

With an almost church-like musical score the performer does an incredible routine where their body moves perfectly in time to every musical accent and change of tempo. To enhance this spiritual experience the lighting draws you in further. At one point I almost felt I was floating in the sky with this performer. The whole experience based on faith and mortality and our tiny fragile place in the Universe is incredibly emotional. 

Each of the daily shows are performed by a different artist, each performing the same choreographed work but bringing their own style and sense of self to the piece, resulting in quite a different performance depending on who your artist might be. A woman at my show had already seen it twice so that tells you the impact that it has. 

An incredible spiritual, immersive theatrical experience. 

5*****

Reviewed by Lynn

Assembly Murrayfield Ice Rink  

12:00, 13:30, 15:00, 16:30, 18:00, 19:30 (40mins)

Until 27 (except 15th,22nd)