Nights at the Circus

By Robert Iles - 16th Mar 2006

I am particularly glad that the development of the stage version of Nights and the Circus was put into the hands of Kneehigh Theatre. Their unique brand of ensemble production and flair for the unusual was definitely required for this story.

Nights at the Circus tells the tale of Fevvers, the Winged Lady of London, brought up in a brothel but forced into a travelling circus by the need to earn a crust. Pursued by a 'collector of wings' and attended by an over-protective surrogate mother, we follow her as she travels with strange companions. The catalyst for the tale is an Icelandic journalist on a mission to expose all the supposed freaks and magic being presented to a world tipping headlong between the 19th and 20th centuries.

This play (with songs and occasional puppets) takes us from the bordello with Fevvers on a swing 'just to look at' to the circus and beyond. The characters we meet along the way vary from the Madame, a slightly crazed but kindly woman, to Buffo the clown who beats his wife "'cause she's mine". With the exception of Walser the journalist (Gisli Orn Gardarsson) and Fevvers (Natalia Tena) the other parts are played by "The Characters of the Theatre" with excellent music provided by Stu Barker. The 'Chorus', despite being but four in number, fill the stage and the remaining characters with such passion and conviction that it was easy to lose sight of how few there really were on stage. I particularly found Amanda Lawrence rivetting, the breadth of her characterisations from fool to madame to the heart-breaking Mignon was worth the trip alone, a reminder of how good good acting can really be.

Visually this is stunning theatre and it is extremely well executed by all, the scenes towards the end when the new century has arrived with a (literal) bang and the spinning mirror shows us the lovers flying aloft above a visual refernec to Oh1 What a Lovely War (a sign of what the Century was actually to bring) will stay with me for a long time. Director (Emma Rice) adaptors and the entire team are to be commended on a tight show with huge impact.

The down side? However presented this story leaves me with a deep feeling of melancholy; sad, bad and mad people rushing heedlessly to a future that they believe to be something it wasn't - and probably never could have been. Reminded me of Scaramouche Jones. Perhaps when it cam to the change to the 21st Century we had become more cynical about the future, its a timely reminder that it was not always thus.