They’ve saved the best for (nearly) last: Circa’s Beyond is the pick of this year’s Norfolk and Norwich Festival.
The cast is the same as the company’s phenomenal How Like An Angel and although there are some shared motifs this show has a very different energy: not least because of the more carnival-like surroundings of the Spiegeltent.
This is an explosion of noise, colour and movement, with outlandish costumes (giant bunny heads abound) and an eclectic mix of music that takes in Bonnie Tyler and Rage Against The Machine.
The ensemble show exceptional strength working together and flair and wit alone: once you’ve seen Rowan Heydon-White battle on a trapeze and then the way she solves a Rubik’s cube, you’ll wonder if there’s anything she can’t do.
Paul O’Keeffe is an excellent comic tumbler, failing and falling but always with total control, and Skip Walker-Milne would be impressive on the pole even if he wasn’t wearing a bear suit. That he is makes the whole thing all the more wondrous.
Bridie Hooper and Billie Wilson-Coffey work magic on the aerial silks – the audience seemed too engrossed at times to remember to clap – and show sublime suppleness on the ground. The crowd were completely charmed by Gerramy Marsden’s cigar box and balance tricks too.
There are only a handful of tickets left. Do whatever you can to get one.
