GIFFORDS CIRCUS IS BACK AT EVENLEY WOOD GARDEN IN 2023 WITH A BRAND-NEW SHOW

LES ENFANTS DU PARADIS

EVENLEY WOOD, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 26th June – 10th July 2023

Les Enfants du Paradis, will take inspiration from French Romanticism in the mid-19th Century.

“Les Enfants du Paradis will be our most lavish show yet! And with romance at its heart, the show’s narrative will provide a playful context for some of the most intriguing, exciting and beautiful acts ever to appear at Giffords.” Cal McCrystal, Director

Award winning and internationally renowned production designer takis, whose elegant work has graced the stages of the world’s greatest opera houses, will once again create lavish sets and period costumes that will transport audiences to a magical – and unexpected – world under the canvas of the big top.

Tweedy the clown has been at the heart of Giffords Circus for over 15 years, bringing new comic routines and skills to the show each year. At the centre of the story and action, he makes a welcome return in Les Enfants du Paradis, with his unique brand of slapstick comedy guaranteed to have everyone in stitches.

Tweedy will be joined by actor and singer Michael Fletcher, who previously starred in Giffords Circus shows Xanadu in 2019 and The Feast in 2020. New acts for Les Enfants du Paradis include Antony Cesar, an exciting 20-year-old aerialist who won the golden buzzer on ‘France’s Got Talent’ in 2020. Antony’s parents are artistes Pat Bradford and Kate Smyth who appeared in early Giffords Circus shows with their hand-balancing act, Kate is also Giffords Circus choreographer.

Also starring in Les Enfants du Paradis are:

Sergi Buka, an amazing illusionist, shadow artist and lanternist who will perform a poetic Chinese shadow act. The Skating Medini (Asia and Dylan Medini) – a dynamic high-speed roller-skating act from one of Italy’s oldest circus families. Amanda Sandow with her beautiful liberty pony act. Foot juggling and aerialist artistes Romy and Alex Michael. The Luna Girls – aerial hoop duo Marina Alvarado de Luna and Markia Ashley Gould.

The Ethio-selam Troupe, a very exciting Ethiopian acrobatic troupe, who will perform the double Chinese pole. The Ethio-selam Troupe are managed by Bibi and Bichu, Giffords alumni and jugglers who appeared in more than 10 Giffords Circus shows and were adored members of the circus.

Giffords Circus is a magical village green circus that tours England from the first days of spring to the first glimpse of winter. It’s our hymn to homemade fun, excess and benign disruption. We want our show to move something in you, and to take just a little while to recover from. We want it, wish it and mean it with all of our hearts, because it is everything we believe about life and art and love.

Giffords Circus is what we would all like to find if we were driving along a road, a glimpse of the tent with the words ‘Giffords Circus’ shining from the top, appearing mysteriously where it wasn’t the day before and might not be tomorrow. It is the intrigue that we would stop for and it is what we would make a pilgrimage for. It is how we travel back to our childhood and how we move forwards surrounded by music, loved ones and laughter. We wear our best clothes, and wellies and run away to the circus.