THE BALLOON MAN

Giffords Circus rolls into town

Tweedy the Clown stars in the new season of Giffords Circus

From:  gloucestershireecho.co.uk

By Gloucestershire Echo  

May 23, 2014

YOU know summer is here when Giffords Circus appears on a village green near you with their latest show.

Sudeley Castle in Winchcombe is the first venue for this year’s production The Thunders by Nell Gifford and her international cast of circus performers.

Based loosely on the ancient Greek legends, the show is touring for four months around Gloucestershire and surrounding areas.

Everybody’s favourite clown Tweedy is back and getting his head round the Trojan horse, while Ethiopian jugglers Bichu and Bibi are also back in the Big Top for the season.

Authentic costumes with plenty of tunics, gladiator sandals, laurel wreaths and silver headdresses are lined up, along with an original music score by James Keay.

And the show also features four rescue dogs, which have been trained and will appear alongside the humans doing tricks like riding ponies and jumping through hoops.

Nell said: “We’ve played very fast and loose with the legends but it is very beautiful and hopefully very funny.

“The set is like a 1960’s film type set with a dreamy, picturesque look; it’s very pre-Raphaelite.”

Created by Nell and directed by Cal McCrystal, the show also features heroic Theseus, the terrifying snake-headed Medusa, goddess of harvest Demeter and a beautiful siren from the deep.

New acts to watch out for this year include horse riders from Martinique and Hungary, an Australian contortionist and a Polish singer.

Giffords Circus opens at Sudeley tonight at 6pm and runs until Tuesday, with midday, afternoon and evening shows.

It then moves on to Pittville Gardens in Cheltenham and other venues include Daylesford Organic Farm in Kingham, Frampton-on-Severn’s village green, Minchinhampton Common and Stratton Meadow in Cirencester.

Outside Gloucestershire, the circus also visits Blenheim Palace and Alice Park in Bath.

Read more: http://www.gloucestershireecho.co.uk/Giffords-Circus-rolls-town/story-21133374-detail/story.html#ixzz32ZC7VGW6

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