Wandering through the jungle, punctuated by Olympic-era monolithic buildings, the white spire of the big (in this case, little) top rises like a small Mayan step pyramid. Revel Puck are in the park.
Since the Wild Animals in Circuses Act came into effect in 2020, the UK has lost between six and ten travelling circuses. Changing tastes, fuel, maintenance and labour cost are more to blame than the freed elephants. However the balance is very hard to strike: many people are disappointed by the lack of lions but would be horrified by their continued inclusion.
Other circus artists have gone upmarket, fleeing to dance venues and static big-top tents such as the Underbelly, with more theatrical or titillating themes. When I was speaking to Lucy Price from the National Centre for Circus Arts , she suggested that the industry is merely transforming and that they are providing the next generation of performers.
So, when I was asked to visit a new, young travelling circus, started in 2018 with a “Make It Happen” grant connected to Waltham Forest (London Borough of Culture 2019), I was understandably short of breath. I love circuses, having tried to run away and join one in my stormy teenage years, eventually settling on theatre as the more employable (HA - sob) second choice.
Claiming a range of buzzwords on their website - revolutionise, anti-idealist, community-led, artistic integrity, dramaturgical depth - my hopes were high.
Aaron Dewitt and Joy Powers are our clowns, sans make-up; they look like an attempt at a costume compiled a few hours before a party. The regalia throughout leans more towards Lucy & Yak than Caligari Carnival, shockingly not a sequin in sight. They are meant to be driving the narrative, but apart from trying to get jobs as clowns and meeting a whole troupe of performers, there doesn’t seem to be much linking the acts together.
Some are outstanding, and the overall lower age of the performers gives a sense of freshness and a sprightly feel throughout. One nice detail is a second stage brought out at the end of the second act, then suspended mid-air, allowing Thorne Bailey and Florine Lord-Morin to whirl around simultaneously on their Cyr wheels, lighting spotlighting them alternately. Like a double cheeseburger of talent.
Nigus Circus Performance Group are a gymnastics troupe and, despite being dressed for a night out in Ibiza, fling the smallest fellows up onto shoulders, spin them around on their feet and sling them between one another as if they weighed nothing.
Imani Vital on the straps provides a confident and utterly un-coquettish performance, lunging and leaping over our heads as her beaming smile flashes past. Seb Parker and Emily Lanigan, to Can’t Stop by the Chilli Peppers, soar upwards from the Korean teeter (a seesaw on speed), while Ivan Manzo and Morena Bispo dangle like gibbons from one another - although the visible harnesses rather undercut the intensity. Annie Zita zooms through the space with great grace but is, again, tethered to the swing.
The score is cool, featuring Florence + The Machine and Electric Light Orchestra’s Mr Blue Sky, to name a few, and all acts are consistently physically impressive. The ensemble, in their casual clothes, have a pleasing dynamic: all nine balance on a giant plank and ball, seeming like a happy, flexible family.
However, the lack of sparkle and showpersonship leaves us feeling rather deflated - without so much as a sad clown with whom to to commiserate.
The Revel Puck Circus: A Glimmer Daze Gambit
Touring UK until 23 July 2026
(Whitstable, Leigh-on-Sea, Cambridge, Cardiff, Beckenham)
