Review: AMALUNA at The Big Top At Oracle is a wondrous and enchanting night at the circus that will be enjoyed by all ages.

Cirque du Soleil has produced a staggering number of shows in its 35-year history--there are no less than seven currently running on the Las Vegas strip alone--so one must marvel at the company's ability to ensure its quality matches its quantity. First seen in 2012, Amaluna is a breathtakingly beautiful and magical evening that exemplifies the best Cirque du Soleil can offer.

Based on The Tempest, we are transported to the mythical island of Amaluna and its almost entirely female population. Its ruler, Prospera--creator Diane Paulus' answer to Shakespeare's famous magician--concocts a storm that strands a passing ship and its crew, including the handsome Romeo who falls for Prospera's daughter, Miranda. The sensational gymnastics at play are given depth and meaning through this loose narrative, but rest assured, the calisthenic pyrotechnics are at the heart of the production.

With a cast of dozens of talented performers, Amaluna ducks and weaves through various forms of acrobatics and traditional circus acts. Highlights include jaw-drapping trapeze artists, seasawing sailors, a breathtaking sequence in and out of a large water tankard, and a mesmerizingly simple act of adding one palm frond to another to create a work of art that is as captivating as it is fleeting.

Charming clowns interact directly with the audience, cleverly distracting from the various set changes required by such diverse acts. Paulus' timing is impeccable, and she manages to create and maintain an evocative world for her varied artists to play within. Mérédith Caron's costumes are both beautiful and functional, though some owe a debt to Julie Taymor's The Lion King.

Amaluna is a wondrous and enchanting night at the circus that will be enjoyed by all ages.

Amaluna continues through January 12th, 2020 at the Big Top at Oracle Park in San Francisco. Tickets can be purchased by visiting
www.cirquedusoleil.com/amaluna or calling 1-877-9CIRQUE (1-877-924-7783).

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