22 May – 2 June
In its 25th year, Gifford’s Circus transports its audience to the imaginary ‘Laguna Bay’, a sun-soaked snapshot of the 1950’s American dream. The theme gives narrative shape and vibrant colour to a succession of jaw-dropping spectacles, accompanied by hits of the day from the excellent onstage band the Semi Tones.
At the heart of this extraordinary entertainment is Tweedy, the clown with a difference, revelling in his role of ‘bellboy’ at the beachside motel. His hapless struggle with inanimate objects, a deck chair, a step ladder, an electric iron, a broom, is in touching contrast to the brilliance of the other performers with their total mastery of every inch of their physical world. We empathise with him as the mere mortal, even as we recognise that his role of innocent dupe requires a technical brilliance equal to that of the gods who surround him.
Director Cal McCrystal has been with Giffords since 2012 and in that time has also built a fine reputation as a director of opera and theatre. Here he brings all those skills to channelling his stellar international cast in such a way that every act becomes part of the overall concept. Thus, the American air force literally take flight with one officer performing extraordinary whirling stunts from high on straps (Randy Forgione Vega). Two others, Pablo and Vickki Garcia, circle the ring in a monoplane, creating comic mayhem by dropping underwear, and endeavouring to extinguish an engine fire. The sketch culminates with Vickki suspended by mouth from the fuselage, spinning wildly.
The couple’s two sons, Antonio and Connor, ninth generation of this Spanish circus dynasty, are a pair of beach bums, outdoing each other with single arm handstands, drawing gasps of astonishment as one of them perches on one hand while holding a bow and arrow in his feet and bursting a balloon by drawing back the arrow with his toes.
With so much acrobatic genius, it feels wrong to highlight any one act, but for this writer, the most astonishing was the hair hanging. Two women perform graceful gymnastics while dangling from a great height from their coiled-up hair. Surely it must be both dangerous and painful. And yet it appears both effortless and beautiful.
The terror and excitement of their aerial display is followed by the full-on slapstick of an ice cream fight between Tweedy and two rivals, a welcome moment of cathartic release and an example of the perfect pacing and choreography of the whole entertainment. There’s magic too with cool-handed Maxi drawing a stream of paper from Tweedy’s mouth and causing him to disappear. And in the midst of so much high excitement it’s wonderful to watch the animals, two horses and a dog in their calm slow dances. A joyful Ethiopian juggling and acrobatic troupe closes the show with extraordinary leaps through a burning hoop.
Soon after this the audience is invited into the ring until it is packed with children, all bopping with wild abandon to the tune of ‘Let’s go to the Hop’.
Gifford’s is unashamedly escapist, and a delight for all ages. Catch it if you can.
★★★★★ Ros Carne 23 May 2025
Giffords Circus @ Blenheim Palace until 2nd June thereafter on tour; https://giffordscircus.com/
Photography credit: Still Moving LLP
