✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

You have reached the limit of free articles.


To enjoy unlimited access to Culture Whisper sign up for FREE.
Find out more about Culture Whisper

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy

Each week, we send newsletters and communication featuring articles, our latest tickets invitations, and exclusive offers.

Occasional information about discounts, special offers and promotions.


OR
LOG IN

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

Thanks for signing up to Culture Whisper.
Please check your inbox for a confirmation email and click the link to verify your account.



EXPLORE CULTURE WHISPER
✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy
Forgot your username or password?
Don't have an account? Sign Up

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

If you click «Log in with Facebook» and are not a Culture Whisper user, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and to our Privacy Policy, which includes our Cookie Use

Support Us Login
  • Home
  • Going Out
    • Things to do
    • Food & Drink
    • Theatre
    • Visual Arts
    • Cinema
    • Kids
    • Festival
    • Gigs
    • Dance
    • Classical Music
    • Opera
    • Immersive
    • Talks
  • Staying In
    • TV
    • Books
    • Cook
    • Podcast
    • Design
    • Netflix
  • Life & Style
    • Beauty
    • Fashion
    • Gifting
    • Wellbeing
    • Lifestyle
    • Shopping
    • Jewellery
  • Explore
  • Shopping
  • CW SHOPS
  • Support Us
  • Get Started
  • Tickets
  • CW SHOPS
Get the Best of London Life, Culture and Style
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
Things to do

Back for 2019: Circus 1903 review, Southbank Centre ★★★★★

19 Dec 19 – 05 Jan 20, Times vary

The golden age of circus comes to Southbank with Circus 1903, which returns after a triumphant premiere in 2018

By Ella Kemp on 28/3/2019

3 CW readers are interested
Circus 1903, Southbank Centre
Circus 1903, Southbank Centre
Back for 2019: Circus 1903 review, Southbank Centre 4 Back for 2019: Circus 1903 review, Southbank Centre Ella Kemp
After a triumphant premiere 2018, Circus 1903 returns to the Southbank for Christmas 2019. Click here to book for the 2019 run.
At the beginning of Circus 1903, ringmaster Willy Whipsnade (David Williamson when he’s off duty) addresses sceptics and lukewarm fans: ‘with enough hot air, you can turn anything into anything else!’.


You might have seen a circus like this one before. The year is 1903 and we’re invited to the golden age of the art form. Acrobats, contortionists, jugglers, knife-throwers and yes, elephants (life-size puppets designed by the team behind War Horse), are all part of the show – but this is an evening of wonder that could only exist in 2018.


Whipsnade keeps the audience involved like any good pantomimic host. ‘You are the engine that drives this machine tonight’, he explains. Knowing jokes and affectionate insults makes everyone feel comfortable before the acts of magic and wonder begin.


Vignettes prove the gravity-defying talent of the young performers – but not everything is perfect, and the shakes and doubts are sometimes tangible. If anything, this makes Circus 1903 more gripping as the possibility of failure makes every success even more satisfying.



And there are a lot of successes. The Flying Finns, a trio of teeterboard artists, propel and somersault each other to astonishing heights, Los Lopez ride bicycles on a high-wire line and Lucky Moon swings from a Lyra with show-stopping emotion. But then someone falls from a trapeze and your heart feels ever more devoted.


The magic of this specific circus lies in its unplaceable identity: its design, performers and music belong to an era of tradition, but quips on Bitcoin and Lady Gaga as well as riffs on living costs in London and a ‘gender-fluid bearded person’ are fresh. This circus could have risked a lot more in swapping gender roles, shaking up the narratives or adopting a subversive stylistic design, but for the most part, the marriage between old and new finds a perfect balance.


The jokes and jaw-dropping acrobatics do more than enough to impress and entertain adults, but kids are completely catered for as well. The tour-de-force of Circus 1903 lies in its ability to make everyone believe in magic, as the tricks grow in strength throughout the night. What begins as a number of recognisable interludes turns into an act that the children onstage will, hopefully, look back on fondly for the rest of their lives.


Willy Whipsnade completes his duties as maestro of everything marvellous as he talks through the illusions everyone witnessed with the small key player who helped it happen. It looks intimate. ‘You and your three friends just made hundreds of people very happy’, he tells the last boy to leave the stage. ‘Many many magical and wonderful things are going to happen in your life. Because life is a circus’.



What Back for 2019: Circus 1903 review, Southbank Centre
Where Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX | MAP
When 19 Dec 19 – 05 Jan 20, Times vary
Price £25.00-99.50
Website Click here to book now



Up to £99
Circus 1903, Southbank Centre
Booking closed
19 Dec 19 - 05 Jan 20

Circus 1903

See all tickets

Most popular

Things to do in London this weekend: 8–10 December
Things to do in London this weekend: 8–10 December
Thoughtful Gifts under £100
Thoughtful gifts under £100
Rose Leslie and Suranne Jones in Vigil series 2, BBC One (Photo: BBC)
What to watch on TV this week

Editor's Picks

Best new plays: theatre reviews
The four shows to see now
Mary Poppins returns - and we couldn't be happier
Mary Poppins Returns film review
WOW: City Lights and Woodland Shade – Digital Art Encounters at Japan House London, Photo: WOW
Things to do in London in January with kids
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).

We recommend nearby

  • Green Room

    A great place to eat or relax, the Nation Theatre's Green Room is enclosed in a sustainable garden, which acts as an urban oasis amid the hustle and bustle of the Southbank. The Green Room is open from noon until midnight from Monday-Saturday, and until 10pm on Sundays.

    Read more...

    Culture Whisper is your ultimate guide to the newest, most exciting cafés, bars and restaurants in London and we are sure you will love Green Room!

    Book Map
3

Theatre

Circus

You might like

  • Award-winning Spanish circus inTarsi

    inTarsi UK premiere from Spanish circus troupe eia

  • Rumpelstiltskin wows at the Southbank Centre. Credit: The Other Richard

    Rumpelstiltskin, Queen Elizabeth Hall review ★★★★★

  • Magic on stage at the Hackney Empire's Aladdin. Photo: Robert Workman

    Aladdin, Hackney Empire review

  • Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat 2019

    Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, London Palladium

  • Photo: Claudia Marinaro

    Cinderella and the Beanstalk, Theatre 503 review ★★★★★

  • Hansel (Hanna Hipp) and Gretel (Jennifer Davis) turn on the Witch (Gerhard Siegel). Photo: Clive Barda

    Hansel and Gretel review ★★★★★, Royal Opera House



  • The Culture Whisper team
  • Support Us
  • Tickets
  • Contact us
  • Press
  • FAQ
  • Privacy
  • Terms and conditions
  • Cookies
  • Discover
  • Venues
  • Restaurants
  • Stations
  • Boroughs
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
×