Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show at Aviva Studios – review

Shaun the Sheep has always thrived on controlled chaos, and in Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show, that chaos is quite literally airborne. Created in collaboration with Aardman Animations and Australian contemporary circus company Circa, this production arrives at Aviva Studios with an abundance of goodwill, eye-catching skill and family-friendly appeal. It’s an engaging spectacle, particularly for younger audiences, despite never quite becoming the soaring triumph it promises to be.

At its best, the show is a feast of physical prowess. Circa’s acrobats are formidable, executing flips, balances and human towers with thrilling precision. The circus vocabulary is woven neatly into Shaun’s familiar world: sheep bounce, humans tumble, and the farmyard becomes a playground of trapezes and teetering stacks. Visually, it’s inventive and often impressive, with moments where the fusion of circus and Aardman’s narrative style clicks beautifully.

Shaun is an appealing woolly presence, as is Bitzer, the long-suffering sheepdog. The farm animals are wordless, expressive and eternally optimistic, anchoring the action with an endearing sense of mischief. There is a palpable joy in watching young audience members follow every raised eyebrow, conspiratorial glance and farmyard fart. The humour remains broad and accessible, peppered with sight gags that land reliably, if sometimes a little too safely.

The production looks beautiful with its green rolling fields and tiny farmyard house perched above. Clever design by Dan Potra allows the audience to peek into the farmhouse and watch live broadcasts from the farmyard circus being piped into the Farmer’s television and the large screen on stage.

Where the production falters is in its storytelling. The circus framework provides a loose structure, but the plot feels more like a string of vaguely connected routines than a story that builds momentum. Circa director Yaron Lifschitz may prefer an abstract approach to narration, but this doesn’t always work alongside Aardman’s neatly crafted tales. While the individual acts are skilful, they don’t always feed into a clear emotional journey. As a result, the show can feel more like a high-quality circus showcase than a fully integrated piece of theatre.

The pacing, too, is uneven. Some sequences linger longer than their comic payoff can sustain, while others rush past moments that might have benefited from greater theatrical breathing space. The balance between circus spectacle and character-driven storytelling occasionally tips too far towards the former, leaving adults admiring the athleticism rather than feeling fully invested in the action.

That said, the atmosphere in the auditorium tells its own story. Children watch with wide-eyed fascination, responding audibly to every wobble, leap and near-miss. For its target audience, the show delivers exactly what it sets out to do: entertain, astonish and amuse.

Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show is a charming, technically accomplished production that delights in flashes but never quite soars alongside its skilled performers. A joyful introduction to circus and theatre for younger audiences, it’s an enjoyable outing, just not quite the dazzling big top spectacular it could have been.