GEOFF BOTTOMS relishes a profoundly human portrait of a family as it evolves across 55 years in Sheffield
Eloquent body language
Simon Parsons admires the ambition of a spectacular show that pits disabled performers against Nazis
EMPOWERING: Abbie Purvis in Waldo's Circus of Magic and Terror
[Paul Blakemore]
PAUL DONOVAN applauds an excellently crafted new musical that explores the life and death of Ruth Ellis
PAUL DONOVAN is tickled by the excruciating take-downs of one of the funniest, wittiest, political writers around.
RON JACOBS points out, via a transcription of Kissinger’s secret recordings, that Trump could never have existed without Nixon and Kissinger
ELLIS RAE is persuaded that the advantages of the ‘talking cure’ are superior to the treatment of mental illness with drugs
JOHN GREEN, MICHAL BONCZA and BELLA KATZ review The Good Boy, Broken English, and Don't Be Prey
Waldo’s Circus of Magic and Terror
Bristol Old Vic
WITH elements of Cabaret and The Greatest Show on Earth this musical, set in 1933 Germany, explores the responses of a circus troupe to the rise of the Nazis. Largely made up of social outcasts with many disabled performers, the circus is a prime target for Hitler’s programme of eugenic cleansing.
Devised and co-written by Hattie Naylor this is a hugely ambitious production with a large cast of diversely abled performers who create a vibrant, co-dependent world under Ti Green’s magnificent big top set, and accompanied by Charles Hazlewood’s dynamic, musical composition.
With the assistance of Extraordinary Bodies (a charity championing diversity and equity in the performing arts) the aerial routines are truly breathtaking and the range of physicality on display impressive.
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