By John Katsilometes
The lead character in Zarkana is a tortured magician named Zark. The honorable if luckless illusionist is trapped in an abandoned theater, having lost the love of his life and his gift of magic. Begging to the beyond for the return of both, Zark is plunged into a bizarre, arcane universe replete with surreal sights and echoing sounds. The name Zarkana comes from a blend of those two words—bizarre and arcane.
In a broader sense, there’s a different sort of return-to-magic effort being made here. Having lost its way with an attempt to merge acrobatic dexterity with Elvis Presley, Cirque is hauling Zarkana into a familiar theater, summoning the tried-and-true for another go at Aria.
Zarkana, for more….