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Circus 1903 review – super-luxe vintage brilliance

Royal Festival Hall, London
A global cast of performers let their talents do the talking in this nostalgic, high-octane circus show

Roll up, roll up and lose yourself in a reverie of hipster vintage nostalgia! The delightfully enjoyable Circus 1903 professes to be a return to circus’s “golden [Victorian] age”, but is in fact a super-luxe reboot (with super-luxe ticket prices) for 21st-century tastes.

The concept is simple: one by one, without a sniff of sweat or sawdust, daredevil acts from all corners of the globe – Mongolia, Brazil, Ethiopia, Russia, France – dressed in gorgeous Victoriana (ruffles, muslin, waistcoats) come on stage and do their jaw-dropping, gasp-inducing thing. All to a booming orchestral soundtrack heavy on the drum rolls. There is a whip-fast juggler, a mind-bending contortionist (the Elastic Dislocationist) and a succession of vertiginous tumbling and balancing acts, each introduced by US master of ceremonies Willy Whipsnade (David Williamson).

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from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/36aShWM
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