You expect prodigious physical feats from any Cirque du Soleil production, but KÀ will
go leaps and bounds beyond what you imagine. Just walking into the theater—built
specially for this production—is impressive enough, with layer upon layer of sinuous
metal balustrades and catwalks, like the belly of a hybrid whale/ocean liner. Smoke
billows up from a gaping pit where the stage should be, as if from the mouth of a
volcano. Petite figures in red roam through the audience, beating drums and shrieking.
Even the usual warning to turn off your cellphones becomes a flash of theater.

Then the show begins, and the spectacle become truly staggering. Emerging from the
smoking pit is a gigantic floating platform, 25 feet by 50 feet, that—as we will discover
over the course of this sprawling story—can tilt and turn in all directions on a massive
mechanical armature. Sometimes it tilts completely vertical, forming a sheer mountain
cliff or the backdrop of a deep-sea dive. In other sequences, the platform turns in space
as acrobatic battles rage across the face of it. But this technical marvel, though versatile
and used to superb theatrical effect, is only part of the show's delights. KÀ cunningly
juxtaposes moments of vast visual scope with more intimate scenes (such as a series of
ingenious shadow puppets) and displays of virtuosic skill (like the most amazing batontwirling
you will ever witness).

Unlike most Cirque du Soleil productions, KÀ has an actual story, an epic fantasy tale
about a royal brother and sister whose parents are slain by an ambitious usurper. These
imperial twins get separated and have adventures on sandy beaches with giant turtles
and starfish, in underground rooms full of fire-belching machines, and among the
radiant trees of a rainforest canopy. Meanwhile the villainous Counselor's Son—a tall,
cadaverous schemer with long hair he likes to swing to and fro—concocts an explosive
powder in his industrial lair. Both twins discover a resilient spirit within themselves and
encounter unexpected love (in one case, leading to a truly gorgeous and swoon inducing
aerial duet).

The visual design leans heavily on Asian influences—bodies covered with elegant
tattoos and kabuki-esque make-up, dancing that seems straight out of the Peking
Opera, furred outfits like you might find on a sherpa in the Himalayas—but the story is
pure hero's journey, the sort of plot that's fueled everything from fairy tales to Star Wars.
What's most impressive is how Cirque du Soleil has balanced storytelling with athletic
showpieces. Even when the plot halts so we can watch talented acrobats display
astonishing skill, somehow we seem to be learning more about this fantastical world.
KÀ is one of the most amazing works of theater anywhere in the world. Even Broadway
can't afford to produce on this scale; this is something that could only be done in Las
Vegas. You will be truly dazzled.

—August Evans