CircusLondonReview

Circus 1903 – Eventim Apollo, London

Reviewer: Scott Matthewman

Director: Neil Dorward

Contemporary circus has come a long way since the days of animal acts under the big top – and yet there is a nostalgia for that era that never goes away.

Circus 1903 leans heavily into that for its return to London, moving from its previous home on the South Bank to Hammersmith’s Eventim Apollo. The show’s first act is set outside the tent; as the circus arrives in town, the roustabouts take up the tasks of pitching up the big top, and the sideshows draw our interest.

The period costumes by Angela Aaron provide a decent way into the sense that we are stepping back in time, but it is our Emcee, Willy Whipsnade (David Williamson) – part carnival barker, part ringmaster – who really sets the scene. Throughout, he keeps events moving along, interspersing some of the circus acts with comedy patter, magic tricks and interactions with a variety of children from the audience.

The circus acts themselves – from over the globe, but all given alliterative Euro-centric names for the show, such as the ‘Perilous Perigos’ or ’The Daring Desafios’, names which in the show’s previous years have been allocated to different performers – are given their own slots of ten minutes or so to showcase their particular craft. And the strongest of these appear in the first act, from a fine display of teeterboard acrobatics and an impressive display of the Rola Bola balance board by Kennel Rodríguez Mesa to a mind (and body) bending display of contortionism by Senayet Asefa Amare.

But the first act isn’t complete without introductions to the stars of the show’s poster – two life-size elephant puppets, the four-person Queenie and the baby Karanga (Swahili for ‘Peanut’), expertly performed by Mikey Brett. But while these are technically impressive beasts, their actual participation in the show is rather underwhelming – although Katanga’s repeat appearances clearly chime with the show’s younger audience members.

The second act, now nominally set inside the Big Top, differs little from the first other than in the variety of the acts featured. Most impressive of these are musclemen Valeri Lyubchev Tsvetkov and Dani Rostov Stoyanov, whose feats of balancing on each other appear to defy gravity.

Elsewhere, there is a sense of unpredictability and the risk involved as performer after performer makes errors. Juggler Noel Aguilar makes several drops, while the show’s final act – the otherwise impressive Temesegene Geberetnsaa and Mikiale Gebrekidan, aka ‘The Remarkable Risleys’ – finds their spectacular tumbling routine come a cropper on several occasions.

Every time, the way the performers style out their errors and immediately try again is encouraging, highlighting the sense that their skills are risky and that those risks play out in front of our eyes. It is unfortunate, though, that composer Evan Jolly’s pre-recorded bombastic underscore gives no leeway for attempted retries of an act’s climactic sequence. That rigidity, the necessary conformity to a schedule dictated by a backing track, feels out of kilter with the early 20th-century ambience the show attempts to portray.

But the beauty of such a show as this is that every night will be different. We never hope for the acrobat to fall, even as we fear they might. And for all the small occasions where things may not quite go to plan, there is far more that thrills and entertains a family audience.

Continues until 30 December 2022

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Family thrills

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The Reviews Hub London is under the editorship of Richard Maguire. The Reviews Hub was set up in 2007. Our mission is to provide the most in-depth, nationwide arts coverage online.

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