Blood, Boobs & Booze: A Night at the Theatre with Circus of Horrors

Had we not been late, it would never have happened. If we were on time we would have gone into the show with everyone else, taken our seats and settled down to watch Circus of Horrors.

But we were late, only by a minute, but that was late enough. Now the beautiful Mrs Fright Writer has been set upon by lunatics… creepy lunatics completely clad in white jump suits, their faces concealed by white ski masks. They tug at her, try to forcefully remove her coat and, when she tries to escape to safety, they drag her back to commence their fun. A glamorous, curly haired woman giggles uncontrollably as she looks on, never intervening, enjoying the high jinks.

However, we are laughing too. There is nothing sinister here, this all performance and before anybody even treads the boards the show has begun for us because the attacking lunatics and the curly haired on-looker are part of the experience. It’s one of the beauties of Circus of Horrors; outside the theatre, in the foyer and in the show itself, the audience is always involved.

Whether it’s the lunatics crawling to the stage across the auditorium seats and audience heads or the volunteers hauled on stage to take part tricks; the medium for a possessed doll, the wearer of a water filled top hat, the victim of the switch in the banana trick. The front 5 rows are particularly involved, getting soaked by the Mighty Michaela’s alcohol, flashed by Captain Dan, drench in performers’ blood and showered with glitter by Anastasia IV as she spins high above the stage, attatched only by her hair.

There are also new freaks to interactive with in the circus this time, Vitali the contortionist and a real life, authorised, genuine, bona fide Mexican wolf boy… who walks on swords.

It is the old heads of the cast that really make the show however, none more so than my personal favourite Hannibal Helmurto. Hannibal is a sword swallower with a fork tongue, floating ribs, skin like an art covered canvas, implanted prehistoric mammoth ivory teeth and, scariest of all, is a former German tax man. *shudders*

This troupe of high flying, death defying, trick performing, freaks is lead by ring master and inventor Doktor Haze, a madcap genius with horror in his heart and music in his soul.

This circus is like no other that ever rolled into your town. It's chock full of danger, blood, nudity, sexual references, bad language and rock 'n' fucking roll! Circus of Horrors is glitz and guts, glamour and gore, all with a good sense of humour. If you have never seen it before, I urge you to book tickets now and maybe I'll see you at the show.

Until then, as the bad Doktor always says, "may all your dreams, be nightmares!"