Nights at the Circus

Synopsis

It's 1899 and all of Europe is agape at the arrival of the new century! The world crackles with possibilities - and its people dance to the irresistible rhythms of money, sex, love and freedom. Swinging above them all is a showbiz sensation; a fierce, vulgar, pant-droppingly sexy trapeze artist called Fevvers. Why the name? She has wings. The story charts her unlikely love affair with Walser, a world-weary journalist on a mission to expose her as a fake. 14+

Our Review:

30 January 2006

The fun starts in the foyer at Nights at the Circus, Kneehigh Theatre's startling adaptation of Angela Carter's 1984 novel about big-top hi-jinks at the turn of the last century. As we wait for the doors to open, five prattling actors push through us to apply whiteface in front of five illuminated make-up tables, blithely oblivious to the bemused punters looking on.

The vivid theatricality continues once the performance starts proper - a demented collage of puppetry, slapstick, acrobatics and pantomime, strung together with sardonic musical numbers that suggest the spirit of Kurt Weill is alive and, well, Weill. The result, though fairly chaotic, is never less than exhilarating. Director Emma Rice and her writing partner Tom Morris use every trick in their arsenal to conjure up Carter's beguiling world of myth, magic and fantasy.

In 1899 London the hottest act in town is Fevvers (Natalia Tena), a music hall trapeze artist with the wings of a...

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Latest User Review

86.139.154.26) - 22 March 2006:

Excellent production which suited the Bristol Old Vic. Cast were multi-talented - acting, singing, instruments, circus-skills. Natalia Tena a revelation as Fevvers (be interesting to see her as a Harry Potter witch). Production a glorious mix of surrealism, slapstick, pathos and romance. Doubt if I shall see a more enjoyable one this year....

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