JADAR

★★★★☆

Starring an incredibly talented cast of nine circus performers, The Revel Puck Circus’ latest show, The Nose Dive Assembly – Birds of a Feather, has its share of jaw-dropping and breathtaking moments.

As is common with most shows now, an information email was circulated the day before, which included a visual story to prepare visitors for the performance. This not only contained directions from different modes of transport to the venue, but also a breakdown of the cast and running order. Within this running order, they mentioned if certain acts would use bright lights or loud music, which I thought was a brilliant idea. As circus shows are typically aimed at children, this additional information would allow parents of neurodivergent children to prepare them on what to expect during their visit, making for a smooth day out.

On the day of the show, the arrival at the venue and the performance ran exactly as detailed. The running time was 2 hours, with a 20 minute interval, to allow for the set up of a piece of staging for the first few acts after the interval. 

The acts consisted of riskier performances such as High Wire, Hair Hanging, and the Wheel of Death, intermingled with more entertaining ‘filler’ performances from the ring master, including some audience participation, along with some from the ensemble. I found it highly interesting how they managed to include an educational section within the acrobatics number, which enables the audience to learn about the different roles within the team.

The music throughout the show majorly consisted of a DJ set carefully crafted to support each act. There was one section involving an acoustic drum kit, which added to the comedic effect of this performance. I felt that the best use of music was before their last big number involving the Wheel of Death, as this requires quite a long set up time, suspenseful music was played to heighten the atmosphere within the tent, but also to allow audience members with small children the opportunity to leave if they felt it was not appropriate for their child to watch.

There was also a running theme throughout the show involving the ring master, which for me only fit all together at the very end of the show. Digging deeper than just the surface level of this, they are teaching the story that if you want something and put your mind to it and work hard enough then you will be able to achieve it. This is definitely a motto that I feel lives within the circus performers’ community as they are always working hard and wanting to learn new tricks to show off to audiences around the world.

On entering the tent, a front-of-house member of staff gave children and adults a small torch, and there was a pre-show announcement instructing audience members to only use their torch when directed to do so during the first act. Unfortunately, due to the audience being made up of small children, there were a number of torches turned on at inappropriate points during this act, which led to one performance being cut short as they felt unsafe, and numerous members of cast having to take torches away. It may be an idea to just pass out torches to parents, and adapt the announcement to ask parents to keep hold of the torches instead of the children. 

Overall, it was a great show, with some incredible moments, and it was clear to see the strong sense of trust within this circus family. I would highly recommend this as a great family day out!

The Revel Puck Circus: The Nose Dive Assembly – Birds of a Feather… runs at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park until June 2.

Photo: The Revel Puck Circus