When my kids therefore produced a flyer for the local circus from their school bags last Friday evening, I glanced over it with the kind of enthusiasm I usually reserve for motor insurance renewal notices. However, their little faces were full of hope and excitement, the glossy flyer promised spectacular entertainment and family fun, and they had recently seen The Greatest Showman so were fully expecting Hugh Jackman and the Bearded Lady to have descended upon our little Hampshire town.
The price, meanwhile, was sceptically reasonable; £7 each with the school bag flyer discount was akin to a trip the cinema, and the promise of 'spectacular entertainment' was surely preferable to the promise of mid-film boredom and spilt popcorn. So, against character and experience, I found myself agreeing to take the little scamps on Saturday afternoon.
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| Man in ring: Just one of the Circus Wonderland highlights... |
The circus that had deposited itself across a large swathe of our local park was calling itself 'Circus Wonderland' which, at first glance, sent my sceptical radar into overdrive. Usually, whenever anything calls itself a 'wonderland' the reality is that you are simply left wondering where your money has gone as you traipse disappointingly around 40 year-old displays and out-of-order rides on the promenade of an over-rated seaside town. This Wonderland, however, did not disappoint.
Having parted with our £21, we found our seats - of which there were plenty still vacant at show time - and settled back as a variety of stylishly clad circus folk walked around selling programmes, whirly lights on sticks and other such fun-fayre-esque tat. Unflinchingly batting off the "I want one" demands of my youngest, we waited patiently for the show to begin.
As the curtain went up and our entertainers made their way into the ring it was at that point that I realised that the people who had just sold us our popcorn (yes, no escape) and touted their tat in our direction, were also the people who would now be throwing themselves around this tent for our amusement. However, despite my apprehension at the two-job workload of our circus talent, it was soon clear that these folk could multi-task. First up was popcorn-seller and hula-hoop/spinning-things queen, Grace, who proceeded to spin multiple hula hoops before upping the ante and moving on to tubes, platforms and flaming torches. My five-year-old daughter, who can just about manage two rotations with a single hula-hoop, was utterly enthralled.
Thereafter we were treated to some high-flying rope-based acrobatics, a spellbinding rollerskating brother and sister who spun each other around on a small circular platform, some incredible juggling and hat throwing from a sweaty, bare-chested Spanish chap - who had earlier been selling furry caterpillar things on sticks - and a clowning double-act that smashed plates, threw sweets, squirted water and cream-pied a member of the audience. In other words, this two-hour show managed to pack in all the elements you would expect to see at the circus, from daring roof-top acrobatics, to slapstick clowning, together with some fantastically over elaborate and amusing dancing, arm waving, whooping and self-congratulation.
Circus Wonderland proved to be two hours of brilliant, fast-paced, all-action, value-for-money entertainment. It was, as my TV-addict son expertly summed up; "like watching Britain's Got Talent without the judges." So, if you get the chance, pay a visit to your local circus and help to fill the inexplicably empty seats. Unlike the over-priced rip-off that is our local annual pantomime, this is worth every penny.
And if you think you can multi-task, wait until you see the candyfloss maker/trapeze guy!
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