South Bank – Udderbelly “Controlled Falling”

Remember on Tuesday that it poured with rain? Yep. I was out in that. I finished my work near St Paul’s around 6pm and took a rather full bus to the Southbank. The usually busy riverside walkway near Waterloo was deserted – save for a number of huge puddles. Of course, there were a number of those lovely decorative elephants to cheer me up – they stood in a line, watching over the river.

I splashed along wondering why on earth I was out in the cold and wet on such a filthy evening (excuse me weather – it’s JUNE!) and remembered that I was going to experience the E4 Udderbelly for the first time. I collected my tickets from the box office and stood admiring the huge upturned purple cow until my friend arrived – equally soggy.

We walked along the sort-of corridor, over the board walk and passed some brightly coloured Chinese lanterns. At least it was an effort to be cheerful. Then walked down some steps into a large open area with pretend grass and lots of (thankfully) large parasols (all branded with Magners cider) under which a number of people were huddled. On a sunny day this would be simply perfect – a few tasteful food stalls (including a Pizza Express outlet) and a sensibly large bar to hand – sitting by the river, staring at a huge upturned purple cow. As it was, we were COLD. We sipped our drinks and chatted while we waited for the doors to open – actually a bit excited at the prospect of doing something new and different.

At 7pm we entered the interior which felt like the inside of a large circus tent. Seats were unnumbered so we clambered up to the back. Sadly there were quite a few empty seats at the sides – most folks must have stayed at home tonight. We were cold. And wet. And not in a very good mood.

1940s radio music started with a crackly voice over. We didn’t quite know what to expect from the “dance and physical theatre event called “Controlled Falling” but the reviews were all extremely positive. Four blokes came onto the stage – dressed in those full trousers of the 1940s with braces and baggy jackets. There was clapping and cheering and lots of tumbling acrobatics and gymnastics.

There was a bike contraption holding a light. There was an odd collection of props – including a blackboard and a cardboard cut-out figure. They attempted to throw their hats onto a hat stand before some chair stacking and balancing. It was like being at the circus. Three of the guys continued to do clever balancing tricks – including various human pyramids, pole climbing, see saw and high beam stuff – displaying their incredible strength for such modestly muscular frames. The fourth guy acted as the lead “experimenter” and doubled as a drum player.

In between the main feats there was lots of synchronised tumbling and more acrobatics. A highlight for my friend was a series of tricks with a large hoop – dizzy. It was a bit like a very clever circus act stretched out for an hour. I should imagine this would be a delightful interlude for those at the Edinburgh Fringe where the Udderbelly concept started.

At 8pm we left the Udderbelly to find that it was still raining. Miserable. We decided that we needed food and drinks and dived into Strada which was just a few minutes away. It was packed. And loud. But the Cypriot waiter was charming and funny and the pizzas were truly light, crispy and flavoursome. So our humour was restored.

I wished I’d taken the kids along to see Alice in Wonderland or chosen a Cutting Edge Comedy night instead at the Udderbelly. Still, its is here on the Southbank until the middle of July so I still have time to come along to see one of those performance.