The Chinese State Circus Mulan

The Chinese State Circus certainly aren’t afraid of history. Proudly proclaiming their heritage they remind us that some of the acts performed are thousands of years old. To compound this, Mulan wraps itself around the story of a peasant girl who grew up to lead an army, a tale itself enshrined in Chinese mythology.

In Tony Wilkie-Millar and Tian Run Min’s adaptation, however, Mulan provides less a narrative drive, and more a thread which links a collection of difficult, occasionally mesmerising, set pieces. Mulan is more an idea than a story – the idea of how girls can fight. To that we should add - and they can do circus, too.

Cao Jing’s Mulan seems designed to prove this point. Fifteen years of Kung Fu training show in every sinew of her body. More than a match for the Shaolin Wushu Warriors she twists, turns and wields a sword with breathtaking ease.

Physically impressive as it may be, this spectacle only takes you so far, and Mulan is at its best away from its central characters. Outside the narrative a couple perform a complex dance of courtship on silks. Flying above us they mirror each other in a love tug-of-war. Matched triumphantly by Wu Jia Ji’s score they speak of equality more eloquently than anything else in the show.

With its focus on history, Mulan undoubtedly misses the opportunity to re-imagine what Chinese circus might be, but there is no denying it acts as a reminder of its continued power to entertain.