This year’s Norfolk and Norwich Festival circus centerpiece takes a different tack, with a mock reality show to find the “face of circus”.
Rhys Hollis is the glittery, borderline predatory, host, guiding and goading six contestants on to win the competition.
The premise sees the performers take part in several short challenges, but where it really comes alive is where they step outside the conceit for lengthier sets.
Jaide Annalise’s low key cyr wheel was particularly captivating, especially the recovery from a low spin, and Gracie Hill and Rebecca Solomon’s duet on the flying pole was beautifully executed, cantilevering and climbing over each other.
The three male performers (Shane Hampden, Loris Di Via, Kussyl Amara) majored on the teeterboard with summersaults up to the top of the Spiegeltent, but the format meant they never quite got the chance to build a full routine.
The finale ensemble performance, stripped of most of the artifice, was a delightful display of acrobatics and left me wondering what more the show might have offered without the need to do “something different”.
It’s a fun 60 minutes of circus and the choppy format is perhaps what the TikTok generation need. For me, I’d rather see more of what this talented troupe have to offer.
- Showdown continues at the Adnams Spiegeltent at Norfolk and Norwich Festival until Sunday 25 May.
