East meets West as the Big Top comes to town
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A COLOURFUL clash of cultures hit Caithness over the past fortnight as the circus came to town.
Aerial acrobatics, gymnastics and clowning around were all part of the act when the Circus of the Orient brought its brand new tour Shanghai Express to Wick and Thurso.
Featuring a galaxy of international circus stars from China, Mongolia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic and the United Kingdom, the new Shanghai Express was a true East meets West experience – and it proved to be a big hit amongst the locals as the Big Top was crowded out by the time it reached Wick on Monday evening.
Ringmistress Tracy Jones was first out to introduce the wide variety of performers before the first sketch – a simple comic routine involving Rudi the Clown, a giant apple and a mischievous worm that got youngsters giggling around the ring.
The hour-and-a-half that followed mixed a variety of comic routines from Rudi and other clowns, ribbon and rope-work courtesy of two young women and of course the highlight – the world-renowned Red Dragon Chinese Acrobats.
Interspersed throughout the show was the team of young men from Nanle in the Henan province who stunned the audience with their acrobatic displays.
From boldly jumping and leaping through hoops to using Rein wheels to spin at high speed around the ring and tossing multiple hats into the air and catching them on their heads – most of the time – their act provided the serious punch-line to the whole evening.
Other acts quickly cashed in to provide a mix of cheap laughs, illusions and thrills.
Of course, no circus would be complete without some audience participation so Rudi the Clown was straight into the audience and plucked three men from their seats and thrust them into the spotlight for some dancing lessons.
The trio, plus Rudi, probably got the biggest laughs of the night as the locals got their tutus on to ballroom-dance their way round the ring.
Shortly after, the Red Dragons brought the evening to its conclusion when they pulled out a trampoline and two high-reaching poles that got lost somewhere in the darkness at the top of the tent.
A variety of stunts were performed with the set, including jumping from one pole to another via the trampoline, but landing with the poles between their legs – inducing more than a few flinches from the male half of the audience.
Overall, it was exactly what it said on the tin, cheap thrills with a few laughs – what more do you need on a Monday night in Wick?
Shanghai Express is produced and directed by Carol and Phillip Gandey, who first brought circus to Scotland 38 years ago and have decades of experience making world class shows such as ‘The Russian International Ballet Company’, ‘Cirque Surreal’ and
‘Spirit of the Horse’.
The circus was at Millbank, Thurso, on July 16/17 and Wick Riverside on July 23/24.
