Circus skills Russian-style (From Sutton Guardian)

Circus skills Russian-style

10:20am Friday 24th February 2012 in Theatre By Nick Hitchens

The Moscow State Circus brings its latest and most spectacular show to the UK.

A mammoth cast of Russia’s greatest and most talented circus artistes transforms the most famous circus in the world, combining contemporary and classical circus in a way never before witnessed.

The show includes the beautiful queen of Russian circus, Yana Alievia, on a revolving aerial chandelier, the Whirlwind Rubsovs troupe catapulting themselves at breakneck speed across the stage, the gyrating juggling Sherbakov and the high-flying, bouncing, back-flipping Vaisilliov’s bamboo bravados on the Russian vertical bars.

Inspired by the legend of the 12 chairs, Babushkin Sekret, takes you on an incredible journey in the company of the greatest circus performers on earth.

In Soviet Russia in 1927 a former nobleman is working as a humble desk clerk when his Grandmother reveals on her deathbed that her family jewellery had been hidden from The Bolsheviks in one of the twelve chairs from the family’s dining room set.

Those chairs, along with all the other personal property, had been expropriated by the government after the Russian Revolution.

The desk clerk, played by Valerik, and his sidekick Valik, soon become treasure hunters in a race against time as the Bolsheviks try to track down the chairs.

Follow the buffoons on their quest for fame and fortune as they discover if their fate lies in the stars or in a fool’s paradise.

Moscow State Circus, Fairfield Halls, Park Lane, Croydon, February 29, at 5pm and 8pm.

Tickets cost £18.50, £25 & £30, call 0208 688 9291