Playful pink lighting, red velvet drapes, glittery fixtures
and wooden circus seats - entering the Brighton Spiegeltent screams ‘Showtime!’
Not all the acts are quite faultless but what a thrilling, fabulous evening of old time show girls and boys.
To start with, 'gentleman juggler' Ian Marchant warms the audience up with some well-worn applause rehearsal. He has the sort of face and mannerisms that bring Hugh Laurie's Bertie Wooster to mind. His gentle, wobbly juggling tricks wear a little thin after a while but he is a likeable host nonetheless. The stars of the show though, are the acts he introduces.
Nathalie Layton, is first up on pole with a superbly athletic, polished routine that kicks off rather adorably with her prepping her pole on stage. Pulling her poses with expert timing and confidence, this is a very sexy routine. It's the act that pushed the show to the raunchy side of family circus and there was a lot appreciation for her in the room. She later demonstrated her versatility on aerial hoop. A very different performance, for me this was the stand out act. Elegant, thrilling and mesmerizing.
Kevin Aaron on rope and Charlotte Dawson on aerial straps vied for most thrilling 'heart in mouth' moments as they spun and plummeted high up in the tent roof to gasps and whoops from below. Less death-defying was Thalia the hula hooper. A sequinned minx with plenty of saucy winks for the front row, even if she wasn't always in control of her hoops. We finished with a brilliant pair of Australian male acrobats. Head First have got bucket loads of stage presence and with knowing grins treat us to a display of strength, balance and naked muscles.
Not all the acts are quite faultless but what a thrilling, fabulous evening of old time show girls and boys.
