For a show billed as an acrobatic one, GODZ hardly meets its remit. Most of the 80-minute show is given over to soft-core titillation more suited to a tacky seaside town than one of Sadler’s Wells stages.
Nowadays, circus shows must have a narrative, and so this one, by Australian company Head First, is framed by a story of Hercules being thrown into the Underworld by his father, Zeus. Joining him on his adventures are Apollo, Dionysius and Cupid. Together, they perform some tricks with ladders and chairs, but the result is pretty underwhelming.
The four men – Thomas Gorman, Jordan Twartz, Liam Drummer and Callan Harris – are affable enough, but their antics are often reminiscent of a bad panto. One very long skit, where the men, almost naked save for a well-placed discus, fool around in an attempt to reveal the others’ manhoods. It’s basically a strip show, but while there is skill involved as they snatch away each other’s discuses at lightning speed, it’s neither sexy nor funny. It’s a little repetitive, too.
GODZ would only last around 15 minutes if the filler were removed. One man stands atop a pile of chairs for an age, and then later, the men dress up as nuns as if they are starring in an X-rated Carry On. You just keep on hoping that the spectacular acrobatics will come at the end to form a rousing finale. But they never come; Hercules finds his way back, and the show finishes.
Part of the problem is the Peacock’s proscenium stage; the action feels a very long way away. Perhaps if the aerial tricks were happening above us in a small tent, the drama and tension would be there. The queer company Briefs, also from Australia, worked a treat in a tent on the Southbank, but when they moved the show into the Queen Elizabeth Hall, it drained all the energy from their once excitingly decadent routines. Bigger isn’t always best, despite what the boys from Head First suggest.
Runs until 14 June 2025
